Brilliant Love Under Brilliant Stars
by EkatiKati
Summary: AU: Due to recent danger, Anakin, still a slave, becomes Senator Amidala's personal bodyguard. Padme doesn't want a slave. She wants slavery to end, and to fight for peace within the galaxy. Anakin, inspired by her spirit, resolves to help her. It would be totally impossible for them to fall in love, right? Brief hiatus for the next few months, but will continue!
1. Chapter 1

Here we goooooo! Slave Anakin, Mistress Padme.

NOT BDSM(although that's yummy) Just Anakin is still a slave, and Padme is the one who owns him because the government thinks she needs a slave/bodyguard temporarily.

Also, they're the same age.

When Star Wars came out I was one. Do you THINK I own it?

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><p>Anakin Skywalker looked around him, a grimace lacing his delicately carved features. What business did he have doing in the back of a hovercraft, with two guards about triple his size on either side of him, when his hands and ankles were already chained together? As if he could, move, not that he wouldn't if he were able to. The city seemed so... ugly. Even he, whose whole world was made from everything ugly, evil and unfair, thought that the black smoke escaping from the top of buildings and the garbage that drifted with the wind was disgusting. The streets and sidewalks were caked with dirt and the people passing by didn't even cast a second glance at the ruins that decorated the area.<p>

He felt so uncomfortable, being squeezed between two replicas of Shamu. They acted like he was an armrest for their convience, and that annoyed Anakin to no end. When one of them wiped his fat hands in Anakin's hair, he wanted to bite his fingers off.

_Just suck it up,_ he thought to himself. Before long, in a more suburban, secluded area, with less trash and brighter skies, the hovercraft came to an abrupt halt. Thank God for Shamus because Anakin would have gone flying through the window.

The door zoomed upwards. Anakin gulped as the man on his right slid out with out a second glance. His side instantly drooped downwards, having the weight that had been pushing it upwards now gone. The man pulled down on his suit, and then Anakin was shoved out from behind, the man from his left roughly pushing his still stinging back out of the hovercraft. Anakin tried to balance himself as he fell off the edge of the leather, slippery seat, but with his ankles and hands tied linked together, there was only so much he could do.

At least it didn't hurt when he fell on his face. Seventeen years of having his head shoved into the floor permanently made that part of his head numb. But the fact that the two goons sent to make sure that he got to the house with out delay, damage or escape were laughing didn't help at all. Anakin managed to get up and didn't bother giving them the satisfaction of showing them how pissed he really was. Instead, he pretended to be captivated by the scenery all around, although it was nothing he hadn't seen.

By the scruff of his collar, a hand nearly dragged him to the door of one of the exquisite homes. Anakin's feet kept tripping over each other as he tried to keep up, but he succumbed at just let the burly man drag him across the gravel. It was easier than trying to walk.

When the reached the door, the same man who had been dragging him forced him on his knees. _Think of..._ he racked his brain for something, anything, to defect the focus from the present. He knew that soon the door would open, and soon a new round of his personal hell would begin. And it wasn't only that, but what made it worse was that there was no possible way out. He couldn't kill himself- the collar that had been around his neck for as long as he could remember would electrify him until he passed out if it thought that he had begun to harm himself. He tried it twice, and twice it resulted in his blood catching on fire, and later when he was found sprawled out and charred against the floor, a shredded back that kept him lying down in the same spot for days.

The door opened.

Anakin didn't dare look up. He knew he would have to at some point, but firstly, he wanted to delay that, because he knew the face that he saw would haunt him at night and as far as nightmares were concerned, he was faring alright with dreams and he'd like to keep it that way for one last night, and secondly, he knew he wasn't supposed to look up with out being told to do so.

"Hello!" The voice sounded like bells and full of energy to Anakin, something had he hadn't heard since his sister had been taken from him. Instantly he was angry with himself that he dared compare an angel like Serenity to the potential monster that stood before him. Anakin stole a glance at the woman's feet, however, he saw nothing beside the tips of her shoes as the rest were covered with... were those pants? He felt like laughing.

"Senator, how are you?" Small talk.

"Great, great, great!" Her voice was practically bursting with life. "Just enjoying the weather today. Day off. And how are you two gentlemen?"

"Fine as well," the shorter man beside Anakin answered, engaged in the Small Talk. Anakin listened, wanting to know if he could possibly hear something of importance. "Just doing some business."

"Ahh. I see, well. Good for you to be feeling so up on a day so beautiful and you spend it working. What brings you to my doorstep?"

Had she not seen him kneeling before her? Anakin tried to figure out if she was oblivious, playing dumb, or truly stupid.

"Yes, well, today has been rather tedious. It's not like out jobs are pleasant. We're here to deliver this to you," the man behind Anakin said brusquely, his gruff voice smart and clipped. It was plain in his tone that he wanted to end the conversation. "Where would you like us to put it?"

Fire burned in Anakin's stomach as the guard addressed him. He could almost hear the smugness in the woman's jingling voice, _Oh, put it in the living room. _Anakin couldn't help himself. He spat at the woman's feet with his eyes closed. Instantly, he wished he could take back the action, although he didn't regret it. In fact, the blow on the back of his head, and the explosion of black pain for that split second before his eyes was worth it.

He heard the woman gasp.

"Don't you mean _him_?" The woman asked, her voice slicing through the air around them like venom. Before she had sounded like bells. Now she sounded like an angry, feral cat.

Anakin could feel his jaw drop. She didn't- she didn't hurt him or anything, like she was supposed to.

"No, I mean _it._" The way the man sounded so confused made the fire ignite.

"That was rhetorical! And the fact that you didn't realize that, but answered what you did just-"

"Senator Padme, with all due respect-"

_So that's her name,_ Anakin thought. _Padme._

"Mhmm," she drawled out, her voice venomous as she tapped her foot. The sharp click of her heel was heard echoing behind her voice. "Do elaborate on why you deem yourself so _superior._"

"I-I-I just felt that," the man stammered, "seeing as _he_ is merely a slave, he needn't be referred to as an equal and I don't really understand why you care so much. As I said before, he _is_ in fact a slave."

Anakin listened carefully to Padme's response. She had after all, made this giant man stutter without a shake herself, and, (and this was shocking), to Anakin's defense. He felt the wonder seep through him and worried that it might show on his face.

"Well then, King Shamu-" Anakin wanted to explode. This entire scenario was getting confusing and ridiculous. This woman, who can do whatever she pleases to Anakin, chooses to come to his defense and face two more than capable men with out backing down an inch as they fired at each other, simply because they refereed to him as an object, which was the way he had been refereed to his whole life. And not only does she mock one of them, but she mocks them with the same description as Anakin, and that was just... plain weird. - "in your height and honor, I humbly apologize to you, because you're the Senator, not me, and you question me, and I answer to you." Her voice was drenched in sarcasm.

"I'm sor-"

"Enough," she interrupted. "I get the picture. Thank you for managing to destroy my mood in the few minutes that you were here."

Anakin stole another glance. He hadn't felt this way in a while. He didn't know how. There was still the nervousness, the anxiety, the fear, the feeling that you were going to be hit... but then there was something else. Protection, maybe? He didn't know. But it felt good.

Padme's feet were bending down. Anakin lowered his eyes quickly, hoping she didn't see him look. But then her soft fingers curled under his chin and gently bought his head up, so that he had to look at her. The only person that ever touched him like that was his sister and his sister was gone. Still, he couldn't help but flinch.

She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life. She had big, bright beautiful blue eyes, framed by long, thick yet delicate eyebrows. Her lips were pink, pout and full and her face had that healthy flush of life lighting it up. The cheekbones that sculpted her face were set perfectly, angled just under eyes to make her face look like a heart.

Anakin found himself lost in her blue pools, and he didn't know how he could get out.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, a tender, caring note in her voice. Anakin missed hearing that.

"Yes," he managed to stutter out, bringing his eyes back to the floor.

Padme stood again. "That thing around his neck, what does it do?"

"It's a shock collar, ma'am. It electrifies him if he ever tries to run away, hurt you, or hurt himself." It was the shorter man who answered.

"Get it off."

It surprised Anakin at how disgusted she sounded, and at what she had just ordered. That damned thing had been around his neck for the past thirteen years, ever since he could understand how to take life. Did she understand what she had just ordered?

"With all do respect ma'am, it's suggested that we leave it on. He has a history of being violent-" _That's not true,_ Anakin thought. He'd only been violent to himself. Once, when he stuck inside an underground cellar for a week without food or water. He'd wanted to go his own way, not the bastard who owned him's way. And the second, when Serenity was taken away from him. But even when they whipped, burned and beat him, Anakin never wanted to kill anyone.

"You say it electrifies him, correct?" Padme sounded annoyed.

"Yes ma'am."

"Well, when I was little, I stuck my finger into a light switch that had cut up wires. I remember the small voltage raising the hairs on my hand. And I can't imagine having that all over your body. So take it off." Padme's voice was stern and final.

"Fine," the man behind Anakin conceded. "Stand."

Anakin assumed he was being addressed, and he attempted to stand, but Padme's angry breath interrupted him. "Give me the key," she demanded, her voice exhausted.

"I thought you wanted me to-"

"I_ did_, but you proved to be to lazy to bend over when you can clearly see that he can't get up, so I'll settle for taking the collar off inside. The key, if you will?

Anakin's eyes followed the guards hand as it shifted through his pocket, before pulling out a small silver key and handing it to Padme. "Thank you," she said briskly.

"Can you get those shackles off?"

The man didn't bother trying to reason with her. Anakin looked up at Padme quickly. Her face was contorted into this expression of deep thinking, her hand on her hip and her shoe tapping again. "Hurry up."

The man at once bent on his knees with a grunt. Anakin turned his attention to him. The man looked flustered and annoyed, his lips pursed.

Anakin smiled sweetly as he offered him his hands. But it wasn't any sweet smile. It was a smug sweet smile. The shackles fell off, and Anakin rubbed his stinging wrists, now raw and bleeding. The same with his ankles, only worse.

"Would you like to keep the shackles?" The man offered them to Padme. Anakin saw his blood dry on some parts of the cuffs- on others, it still dripped.

"Consider them your birthday gift from me," she said. Anakin's chest let out a bit of air in a small, quiet version of a chuckle.

The men cleared their throats. The short one said, "We also bought a variety of tools, in case you don't have any of your own."

"I don't think I'll be needing them," Padme said. Anakin looked up from his kneeling position. His knees began to sore. Padme had a hand over her stomach and a lump in her throat. "You can leave."

"Are you sure?" The feigned concern.

"No, really," Padme assured them lightly. Then her tone changed. "You can get off my property."

With out turning his head, Anakin saw them climb into the hovercraft, before looking back at the ground in time to hear the zoom as it left. His eyes wandered up to the beautiful woman that towered over him, daggers still shooting out of her eyes as they followed the craft up into the air.

Then, with out warning, her glare shot down to Anakin, and his heart began to vibrate. Mostly from fear. Anakin's eyes flew back to the ground, but he knew she caught him staring, and he knew that as all good things must come to an end, his little moment of being protected would be coming into an end as well.

"I'm such an idiot," Padme muttered to herself. Anakin's eyes widened. She hadn't shoved her heel in his stomach. She didn't smack him across the face. "Get up, get up," she ushered as her hands gripped his hand and pulled him to his feet.

Anakin's stance was wobbly, his head still swimming a bit from the blow. He didn't know what to do as Padme's eyes surveyed him from top to bottom. "Well!" She clapped her hands together. "Come on in."

Anakin took the few tentative steps through the door frame. The house was a palace.

"Can I know your name?" Was that red on her cheeks blush?

Anakin swallowed before answering. "Anakin, Mistress."

Padme held out her hand to him, dangerously close, nearly touching his stomach. "Padme, although you probably already knew that, I mean, from outside and all," her face reddened. "God, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Anakin didn't know what to say, so he shrugged uncomfortably as he rubbed his throbbing wrists.

He had the urge to just yank his hand back as Padme held out her hand, but instead he lifted his hand and enclosed it around her own, much smaller. Anakin hadn't felt anything in his right had for five years, when it had been shattered. But he felt a tingle of heat when they met, and time slowed. Anakin couldn't help but chuckle at her embarrassed tone. She chuckled also. Anakin's hand shook at he bought it back to his side.

He looked at Padme, his mouth slightly open. She didn't know what she had just to him.

Padme smiled, before pulling her hand back and running it through her mahogany locks. "Can we go to the garden a bit?"

What was with all the questions? The only time anyone asked Anakin anything was when he was being interrogated, and here his new owner was, looking hopeful and sheepish as she asked for his consent. He managed to nod.

She beamed. "Follow me."

Padme led the way to the garden, which wasn't far at all, Anakin shaking his head at the way her steps bounced. He couldn't help but smile- a real smile. He didn't know when he'd last done that.

When they reached the garden, Anakin wondered if she would ask him to sit.

"Do you want to sit?" Padme pulled out two chairs from under the table, and sat in one of them. "I was hoping I could lay down some ground rules- but if you don't want to, that's fine, I guess." Towards the end of her sentence, Anakin noticed how she lowered her gaze and how her voice died a bit.

To placate her, Anakin sat. _Ground rules. Joy._ Of course, now he'd be reminded who he really was.

"I'm just going to start, and if there's a problem, stop me, okay?"

"Yes Mistress," Anakin said, leaning in slightly, shielding his back from the chair. It started stinging again.

Padme took a deep breath. "No Mistress. Just Padme."

Anakin didn't know how to respond. That's all he's ever addressed anyone who's owned him before. It's all he ever knew. Anakin fidgeted with the hem of his old shirt, avoiding her gaze, unsure of how to answer and what his answer would be. Could he?

"Can you? Just call me Padme?" she asked, her eyes big with hope.

"I'll try," Anakin promised, looking down. At least he didn't say Mistress. But isn't this what he's always wanted? To not have to call anyone Mas0ter?

Padme breathed out a huge sigh of relief. "And no more of that kneeling stuff. I hate seeing you like that. Or anyone for that matter."

Anakin nodded slowly. "Okay." This was all so shockingly new to him. Was Padme an angel?

"And say whatever you want to. Call me an ugly, fat, stupid, cow."

Anakin let out a laugh, only to cut it short when the reality that he wasn't allowed to crashed down on him, but then he remembered what Padme just said, and he laughed again.

He looked at Padme, who was smiling hugely, her smile radiant and warm. It looked as if the world revolved around her, not the sun.

"Do it."

Anakin's laughter subsided. He didn't think she was being serious.

Padme cocked a perfect eyebrow expectantly. "Well?"

Anakin muttered the words out under his breath in a stream of letters. They were so untrue.

"We'll work on it," Padme decided. Anakin smiled slightly, relieved that she let this one go, because if she forced him to yell it out, he didn't know how could have.

"Go wherever you want to, eat whatever you want to, do whatever you want to and don't ask me to do it."

Anakin looked deep into her orbs to see if she was telling the truth, and there wasn't a flicker of doubt. She wasn't going to take it back and say, "Just kidding," or she wasn't going to let him to just that and then have him punished. Anakin hoped he was right and this wasn't some cruel joke.

"Okay," he said, with a nod.

Padme smiled. "I thought you were going to be difficult and protest. This is great." Padme pursed her lips. Anakin leaned in, ready to hear what she had to say. "You don't want that thing around your neck, do you?"

Anakin was taken aback once again. Sure, she had demanded for the key, but he didn't actually think she was going to take it off. Maybe she would dangle it in his face and taunt him, but taking the collar off would essentially be freeing him.

Did he want it around his neck, though? "No."

"Okay, umm... do you want to take it off or would you like me to?" Padme asked, fishing through her pocket for the key. Anakin subconsciously bought his hand up to the collar, only to stop it midday, and bring it back down.

"I- I can't," he stammered. His hands were shaking.

"That's fine," Padme said, an understanding note in her voice. "Do you mind if I touch you?"

Did anyone ever ask him if they could touch him? No. And their touches weren't little pats on the back, either. Padme was gentle and kind, or at least, so she seemed, and Anakin didn't want to push his luck.

"No," he said as he looked down and closed his eyes. He heard Padme stand and walk behind him. How would his neck feel with out it on? He wondered if it would feel empty, like having a bracelet on for years and then having it taken off. But this was no bracelet- this was some evil creation that had been forced on him for being born in the wrong family.

He felt her feather light touches push his shoulder length hair out of the way from behind him, her small fingers fiddled with it to find the lock. Anakin remembered the men who had brought him here telling Padme of his "violent tendencies." And she was willing to believe that they were lying, all because of the way they treated Anakin, which was really the way slaves _are _treated. Even if the things they were aboutt o say were true, how could anyone possibly want to hurt Padme?

The force of the key entered the whole in his collar, and Anakin held his breath, squeezing his eyes and balling his hands into fists. This was it.

Then there was a sharp _click_ and the collar unhatched and drop onto his lap. His neck felt strangely light with out it on. That was first thing he noticed. How he didn't have to put strength onto keeping it upright. His hand slowly went up to feel it- he didn't feel anything but soft skin. _His _skin. Free from that collar. He fingers traveled around his neck, looking for any semblance of the collar, Nothing hurt when he touched his neck, like how his fingertips were burned whenever they touched it. They just felt the soft warmth of his newly uncovered skin. Nothing word hurt him anymore, or at least, nothing on him. But he had a feeling that Padme wouldn't hurt a fly.

Anakin felt a stinging behind his eyes. _You can't cry! Not in front of her._ He blinked furiously a couple times, waiting for the years to dissolve. When he looked up for Padme, he realized she had gone back to her seat and was watching him intently, Her head resting on her hand against her knee. A small, sad smile graced her features.

"Feels good, doesn't it?"she asked, a slight tremor in her voice.

"Really good," Anakin said, looking at her. He blinked. He hadn't answered directly, with a yes, or no. This time, he actually voiced his thoughts aloud with out even thinking about it. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. That thing shouldn't have been on from the start."

Anakin looked down and took a big breath, unsure of how he should reply to that. But she started speaking before him. "I want you to know that I absolutely abhor slavery," she began, making panic swell in Anakin. _Please don't let her sell me_, he begged to anyone who might be listening.

"You're not my slave," she said, looking at him, shaking her head. "Did they tell you what else you were to do for me?"

Anakin nodded, looking up at her. "I um, I was supposed to be your bodyguard... I think," he added, unsure.

"Apparently, I'm a big target on the people that need to be assassinated list," Padme joked, making Anakin chuckle slightly. When was the last time anyone made him laugh? He didn't even remember. "That's _all_ you'll be, my bodyguard. Not my slave, or my anything. Okay?"

Anakin prayed to God that she was being serious. For all he knew, this could all be some big joke. She could make him feel so good today, and tomorrow, demand that he crawl around like a dog.

But Padme wouldn't do that, would he?

When Anakin looked at her, tears had welled in her eyes. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"I'm sorry," Anakin said. "I just- it's hard." That's all he would give her, for now. When it all came crashing down on him later, the weight would be much less if she didn't know exactly how much this affected him.

"Tell me," she pleaded, scooting her chair closer to him. Anakin edged backwards, wishing he could blend with what he was sitting on. "What can I do?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, looking away.

Padme sighed. "Somehow I'll earn your trust."

Anakin looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. He couldn't believe she was actually being for real.

"Let's change the subject," Padme piped up, sitting up straighter in her chair and wiping her eyes. Anakin felt the corners of his lips tug and he knew he was smiling. Immediately, he stopped, and pulled his lips tight together. Where did all this suspicion come from? Two seconds ago he was fine.

"What else?" Padme looked like she was racking her brain as she had her eyes rolled back into her head and tapped her chin. "Right!"

"Come with me," Padme said excitedly, a giant, eager grin spread across her face as she got off her chair. Anakin had a feeling that even if he wasn't Padme's slave, he would have obeyed this one request anyway. He stood up and tried to keep up with her.

Padme sounded like a sugar-hyped little child as she showed him around the house, barely allowing him time to see anything as she whizzed by the rooms. Some doors she didn't even open. It looked as if she felt obligated to get through the grand tour.

Padme came to an abrupt halt at one door. "And this," she drawled out dramatically, her eyebrows wiggling, "is..."

Anakin looked at her, smiling. He felt his face scrunch up, but this didn't feel bad. In fact, it felt good to smile. He was amazed, sort of, as she put on hand on the doorknob and the other hand spread wide, as if she was showing something off.

"Dun, dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun!" Anakin laughed at her overacted musical presentation. "Your room!"

Anakin stopped laughing from the shock. He must have not heard her correctly- there was no way she said, "his room." On a good day, he slept on the floor inside instead of out in the cold or the rain. Padme had said a few things today that defied everything he'd learned during his whole life, and she did take his collar off, and that alone was enough to make Anakin rethink everything that ever happened to him. His room? Maybe she _was_ serious about what she said when she told him he'd be nothing more than her bodyguard.

"Are you okay?" Padme asked cautiously, edging closer to him.

He shook his head, coming back from his reverie and down to reality. "Fine, fine."

"Well," Padme turned the handle and pushed the door open, "Check it out."

Anakin took a shaky step inside. The room was amazing. It was painted blue, with windows everywhere, and what caught his attention the most was the giant bed in the center. His eyes bulged. That was all for him. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't asleep.

"Do you like it?" Padme asked hopefully as she came to his side.

"I've never had one before," he mumbled, looking around in awe. "This is all mine?"

"All of it," Padme smiled. "I didn't know what color you liked, but the room was white before, and that just seemed too bland, so I just picked blue, I guess. Oh, and there's a skylight on the room, and a bathroom over there- Is the rambling getting annoying?"

Anakin was puzzled at the red flush in her cheeks, as if she were embarrassed. A small, sheepish smile crept on her face. "It's fine," he laughed. He looked at the room again. "Wow," he breathed.

Padme looked extremely satisfied. "So, I'll leave you alone, I guess- I mean you wouldn't want me around to annoy you or anything. I've been doing enough of that- If you uh, if you need anything I'll be downstairs. Okay?"

"Okay."

The first place Anakin went to when he was all alone was the bed. He'd never felt one before. When he sat on it, it just slouched down and let him seep into it's softness. Anakin moaned softly from pleasure. Slowly, he lay down fully on it, placing his head on the fluffy, feathery pillows. It felt like he was on a cloud. Never had he ever experienced such softness all over his sore body. He closed his eyes, moaning again. It felt amazing.

His eyes didn't open for a while.

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><p>So there it is. Although I love kinky fiction, this one will not be kinky. Anakin's a slave, and Padme is forced to "own" him for the time being. It's been done, but not too many times, and it's never too late for another Star Wars fic. HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN! He's soooooooooooooooo underrated it's not even funny. And he's gorgeous. Anyways, I hope I didn't dissappoint and i would really love some reviews! I'm working on another fic right now, and it's going to be hard to juggle both of them. So do review and keep me motivated. I will update, I'm not going to throw an ultimatum. I'm just going to update faster if i Have reviews because you tend to write faster if you know you've got readers.<p>

So later alligators!


	2. Breakfast

YES I AM NOW MRS. NORRIS! I CHANGED MY NAME!

Hey yall. I'm late, very much so, I know. But my life's hard right now. Firstly, I'm in highschool. And very busy. I'm Moron of the Month with my best friend Dottie and we're basically the two most hilarious(not necessarily moronic) people in the Math class, and so we got voted. And we're the first woman Morons! Go feminism! JK, I like willies ;) So we have that to run, we recently started a new newspaper that we cowrite with our other really good friend, and that needs to be kickass. And plus, girlies and guylies, (Rosecrystals dear, thanks so much! I love your writing! Your praise is such an honor!) I'm having issues with my very good friend whom I happen to be attracted to whom happens to be attracted back. Ah fuck it, we're a couple. Anyways, he has a miserable home life, he's gotten all depressed, you know I'm doctor phill, he's not talking to me the way he should, it's all very stressful. Add that on to karate, swimming, football, and volleyball, PLUS homework(lol, I don't do that shit) I barely get anytime to write. And no, I'm not going to write during free period. Sorry for anyone who wanted me to do that. Anyway. I'll keep updating, hopefully once every two weeks, and as things settle down, sooner. So thanks for reading and enojy!

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><p>Anakin didn't even think. He couldn't. All he could do was, very mechanically, lift his hand and pull that trigger.<p>

When he was lucky, Anakin could manage to squeeze in four or five hours of sleep. That's how it's been for the bulk of his life. He was used to it, waking up at the shrill, booming sound of the intercom alarm system. And other times, if he had been extremely tired and the scream of the alarm clock didn't fully open his eyes, he'd get kicked in the stomach, completing the task. After a while, his system got used to the few hours of sleep, and it didn't take so much effort to haul himself up in the mornings. But that was why he'd always carried bags under his eyes and yawned when no-one was looking.

Today however, the thing that woke Anakin up was the sun's bright rays streaming in through the crevices from the curtains that covered the windows. And at first, when his eyelids cracked open, he literally freaked out. He scrambled out of bed,tripping over his sheets and landing in a tangled heap on the floor. After having a minature panic attack right there, he shot up and began fixing the bed with immaculate precision. As he was tugging on the sheets, his location and what he'd just been doing dawned on him. His was fixing a bed, _that he woke up in. _A bed he _slept_ in. A bed that was _his._

Slowly, relishing the new found peaceful feeling, he resumed making his bed, and then went to the bathroom. Once he entered, he stopped in his steps, gaping at its giant bathtub, shower, sink...fully equipped with anything and everything that could possibly belong in a bathroom.

None of the bathrooms any of his masters ever had could come _close_ to this.

It was his. It couldn't be. And yet, he went ahead and made use of everything before him with such delicacy as if it were a fragile piece of glass that would shatter if handled too roughly, or would vanish into thin air if he looked at it too much.

Anakin carefully put his toothbrush back and quietly walked out of his room. Immediately, the savory aromas of food wafted through the air and greeted him. He followed them, assuming it wasn't for him, but obviously hoping they could lead him to somewhere where he could find another person.

Padme was standing over the stove, food all over her clothes and flour on her arms up to her elbows. Shock, even if for a second, crossed his face that Padme would be over the stove, cooking herself, when she could have hordes and hordes of slaves to do it for her.

But then he remembered yesterday, and everything she told him. _"I absolutely __**abhor**__ slavery..."_

She didn't see him standing in the doorway, so Anakin entered quietly, but she heard him as he stepped across the marble floor. Despite the mess, when she turned to him, her face was bright and energetic. "Good morning!"

Smoke was coming from various pots on the stove and Padme stabbed a big bag of flour with a knife, making it fly everywhere, including her face.

Anakin laughed quietly from where he stood at the wall farthest from her, leaning against it. Not in that obnoxious way, but in that way where if everything was up to him, he would just fade into the bright green paint and disappear forever.

Padme snapped around. She looked hilarious. The floor stuck to her face and made her look like a ghost. _A very pretty ghost,_he though, before he could stop himself. But it was true. She was pretty/ Beautiful, even. Her face was fine and delicate. Her eyes were vibrant and warm. They sparkled as she playfully scolded him, wagging her dagger in his direction. "No making fun of me."

Anakin didn't exactly grin, but he didn't scowl at her either. He didn't want to push his luck and laugh again, although it was sort of impossible not to be under her spell. To someone else, this wouldn't have been funny. To Anakin, he found the situation downright hysterical. She was treating him like an equal. Like a friend. Like he wasn't her slave. Which, he knew, eventually, she would decide that she wanted him to be. And then he would have no power in stopping her. Once again, Anakin's mood was burned to a crisp.

Her chirpy voice bought him out of his grim thoughts. "I hope you're hungry. In the mornings, I'm starving. Actually, I'm quite surprised I haven't eaten all this flour yet. It looks rather appetizing."

Actually, pigeon shit looked more appetizing than that flour. But Anakin's not judging. It's not like he wasn't used to eating scraps and garbage anyway.

Padme must have noticed his grimace because he put her hands on her hips, making flour puff up around her. "What, you think this is so easy? I'd like to see _you_ try."

She was joking, but Anakin didn't realize it. He was suddenly fearful she'd punish him for making a face, so he immediately began to take brisk steps forward, eyes downcast, his hands at his eyes, ready to "try," as Padme had said a few seconds ago.

But she held out her hand. "Actually," she began, "No. Because you'll do it perfectly, and then I'm going to feel like a total moron."

Anakin looked at her, confused. He didn't know if she was angry at him or not. He didn't know what she expected him to do. Should he apologize? Should he deny his skill? With all his other owners, everything was so much simpler. If he made a mistake, he would get beaten, and then he would go and correct his mistake. His owners didn't talk to him like a buddy one minute, and then the next, order him around. He just stood in the corner until they ordered him to do something, he did it with out a word, and then went back to the corner.

Why was Padme being so complex? Why couldn't she provide him with the structure he has been given all his life?

He obviously couldn't see the expression on his face, but by the one he put on Padme's, it must have been horrible.

"Hey," she spoke up softly. "I'm not evil, I swear."

Anakin just looked at her, uncertain on how he should respond. But as usual, she must have read his thoughts because she knew exactly what to say. "You don't have to say anything. Or do anything. Just do what makes you comfortable. I don't expect anything from you. Okay?"

Anakin nodded stiffly, meeting her earnest eyes. At his sign of understanding, she sent a soft smile his way, and continued with water... _thing_ she was working on.

A few moments pass, letting Anakin calm down and come at rest with himself a little bit more before Padme spoke up again, all somberness from her tone forgotten. She was as chipper as ever.

"I wasn't sure what you like to eat so I'm making pretty much some of everything." She dumped the floor into a mixing bowl. The entire kitchen went foggy. "I mean, what if I made something you were allergic to or something?"

Anakin just looked at her, totally taken aback, mouth agape.

Padme instantly turned worried. Her face grew red. "Did you not want that?" She looked completely flustered. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so-"

Anakin grew even more bewildered, but he couldn't stand to have her there, apologizing to him, before being nothing but kind, more so than he deserved, and going above and beyond in every way possible. He wanted to say something, to get her to stop. Tears sprung to her eyes, and that was it for him. He could bear it no longer. "Please don't apologize to me." His voice was quiet and timid, but it was there, and that stopped her.

She looked at him. "What do you want to eat? I'll make it, whatever it is. We can even order it, if you'd like."

Anakin's jaw dropped further. She wasn't getting his message, and he didn't know how to get it through to her. "You don't have to get me anything."

"What? Do you not like food?"

"No, it's just, you didn't have to do that."

"Didn't have to do what?" She looked genuinely confused.

Anakin grew more and more agitated. Talking or... interacting with people, especially people like Padme, people who owned him...was not his specialty. At all. But he tried anyway, for her sake. He gestured to the food. "Cook for me. You didn't have to cook for me."

"And why is that?"

Anakin's felt his cheeks catch fire. "I'm not –I'm just-"

Padme put her hands on her hips, a look of understanding cross her face. Anakin's heart thundered when he thought he saw anger somewhere in there, but if it was, she masked it well. "You listen to me, mister. And you listen well. You're a _guest_ in my house, and a friend under my roof. I find it the polite thing to do to cook for my friends, so they don't get hungry. So I'm going to cook for you. And if it disgusts you, you don't have to eat it, but don't act like you're not worthy because everyone is worthy of a full stomach. Clear?"

Anakin knew she was joking around, but every time something close to that tone was used, he always ended up getting hurt, and so when she sat there waiting for an answer, the only one he gave her was the only one he knew. He flinched a little backwards and said, "Yes ma'am."

"We're going to work on your confidence issues," she muttered before turning back to her... cake? Anakin felt so useless just standing there, watching Padme do everything he would normally be doing.

Things were quiet for a while. Padme finished the dough in her bowl and dumped it all on a board.

"So, do you want to stand all the way over there or do you want to sit down so we can talk?" Her voice was slightly rough from the force she was using to mold the batter.

Anakin walked around her and sat on the other side of the table. The chair was so soft. His back began to hurt again. In an attempt to cool it, he straightened his spine and leaned forward slightly.

"How old are you?" Padme asked conversationally as she mixed the dough.

"Nineteen," Anakin answered, looking some reason, saying his age always made him feel a little shameful.

"That a fact?" Padme did her mafia accent.

Anakin, not sure if she was making a joke or not, nodded, deciding to play things safe.

"Well, it just so happens we're the same age."

Anakin looked up at her, smiling a little bit, trying to respond to the enthusiastic grin on her face.

"So when's your birthday?" Padme asked. "Or do they not tell you that?"

Again, shameful, Anakin looked away and shook his head.

Padme cocked her head. "I figured," Padme said knowingly. "Pick a day."

Did she seriously just ask him to pick a date for his birthday?

"That's fine, I'll surprise you."

Anakin hadn't realized he spent so much time thinking, but the dough had been put in a pan, and Padme was bending over to put it in the oven. Anakin thought she looked a little comical in her apron and all, although it was totally pointless, since every inch of her was covered in some sort of food.

Padme moved around in a frenzy, getting plates and putting food on them. Anakin looked at her as she stumbled over her feet, wanting to help her. But offering his assistance, he worried, that it would be taken as an insult.

Quietly, he stood from his chair, and decided to offer anyway. That way at least she wouldn't think he was spoiled. "Do you need any help?"

"Nope!" Padme answered confidently, although she looked at him with soft appreciation. "I'm just fine, fine fine fine fine!"

Anakin smiled a little, but she took that as a cue go wild.

"Do not mock me! UGH!" Padme's hair had turned into a mess in it's bun. "It's not my fault I'm not a graceful cook!" She kept muttering to herself, snapping her fingers, and tugging on her flour flaked hair.

Anakin turned to hide his little chuckle.

Padme stopped what she was doing and turned to glare at him. He really didn't want her to see him laugh at her, but she did anyway. He felt himself shrinking back, his stomach clenching.

Her mock glare immediately softened. She held her hands up in surrender. "I'm not evil, I said. I'm not going to do evil things. Okay?"

She took Anakin's nod as a sign to go on, "I have something I want us to do after breakfast. I think it'll be fine with you, but if you don't want to we don't have to."

Anakin nodded again. He closed his eyes, taking in the sweet smells of the food. She'd let him eat it... right? When was the last time he ate? A week ago, Anakin remembered. A stale piece of bread with mold growing from one side.

"Viola!" The plates were slammed onto the table, making Anakin jump. "Try this and tell me it isn't delicious."

Anakin looked at all the food that was before him. He could feel the saliva pooling in his mouth as his eyes scanned each delectable item that Padme had cooked. How early had she gotten up for all this? There was everything, and there was _so much_ of it. It could feed an entire small nation. Not just him. How could she ever expect him to eat this? And why did she even give it to him?

What was wrong with this woman?

But when she said, "Go on," he didn't question her. All table manners forgotten, he dived in.

Anakin took the plates over to the sink and turned the water on, ready to begin washing them. After all, it was the very least he could do. For the first time in his life, his stomach, besides his shrunken appetite, wasn't totally empty.

Padme stopped him, careful not to touch him, but in close enough proximity that made her presence very aware. "I want us to do something," she reminded him.

Anakin pulled away from the sink.

She went on talking. "And another ground rule- no chores for Anakin on special days. Okay?"

"This is a special day?"

"A very special day," Padme stressed, as she led Anakin outside.

Anakin saw a black cloak draped over something round. The shape looked sickeningly alike to his collar, but he pushed that to the back of his mind. Padme handed him a vaporizer.

He knew how to use one, as protection for his masters, but he didn't know why the heck he would need it now. But then again, Padme was a little unpredictable.

Padme moved over to the black cover, and swiftly tugged it off whatever it was hiding. "I can't fine anywhere in the house that it goes well. The entire feel of it seems to bring the entire air of the place down." She looked at him with a wry grin as he began to understand what she wanted him to do. "I'm sure you understand. Get rid of it."

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><p>So padme's That a fact line was from a movie, with the accent. If anyone knows where it's from, and they tell me in there review, I will cancel my plans and write the chapter that day. Unless I haven;t already done so. And I know her eyes are blue in the movie. But I made them brown, and it's for a reason! Yo, it's going to mean something! I'm sorry I can't reply to all the reviews. That sounds ungrateful, snobby, and bitchy. But I can't keep track of who I reply to and who I don't so I don't want to be like thanks to one person and then ignore the other, when I really read all the reviews over and over. I've gotten so much feedback for the first chapter and the writing is shit! If you have a question or a concern, then obviously I will answer you ASAP but if you give me praisehate I'm not going to write back unless I think we could have a discussion over it. And if you want me to reply back, Just tell me to reply at the bottom of your review! :) I love talking with everyone! But I DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO LOG ON to my account all the time to thank everybody personally. I;m so fucking busy and its so hard for me to write and update as it is. I love all the reviews I get and they each make my day.

I'm sorry if I sound like a bitch/snob. I'm really not. but I'm so stressed. and I hope everyone can understand.

Don't review unless you want to ;)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: So, thank you all for the reviews! The fact that nearly 20 people like this story enough to review is very very very pleasing to moi! A new thing I'm going to start. I'm really into indie movies/ music, because I think that that's the best kind of movies/music, since it's done for the art and not for the money. But that's just what I think, I could be wrong.

Anyways, I'm going to put the name of a song and a movie, and a fanfiction FOR that movie right here that you should totally check out. I'm not going to have any more bottom A/N's, because that would totally ruin the mood of the story. Like if you've just been crying or something and I make a snappy comment about the economy or falling chickens or whatever, your mood will be totally lost. So everything goes before the story. Sorry for that. I promise the A/N's yet to come will not be as long.

Song: City With No Children by Arcade Fire

**Just to clear something up: THIS SONG IS NOT A CHAPTER SONG. I DO NOT RECOMMEND READING AND LISTENING. THEY HAVE NO CONNECTION. **

I don't write with music, so I really don't know.

Movie: Life As A House

One of the greatest movies of all time, with hottie Hayden Christensen AKA Anakin Skywalker.

Fanfiction FOR said movie(after you watch it, to have something to quelch your thirst): The Edge of The Earth by rosecrystals

^^^ AMAZING. READ READ READ IT.

ON WITH THE CHAPTER, FOLKS! REVIEW AT THE END, PLEASE!

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><p>Apparently, at some point while making breakfast, or before that, Padme had managed to make a cake. A cake which smelled absolutely delectable and if Padme hadn't insisted that he stay out of the kitchen(by locking him out) Anakin would have followed the smell and scarfed the whole thing down.<p>

He'd never smelled anything so... edible.

Anakin had a feeling that once she saw him standing by the couch, she would ask him to sit on it, but truth be told, he was more comfortable standing. It's what he was used to. So he stood up against the yellow paint. Padme's entire house was so bright. Everything was colorful. Just like her. Padme was bright and energetic and bouncing on the balls of her feet, so it made sense that her house was painted the way it was. Grass green, daisy yellow, sky blue... the colors of happiness, of a good mood, of life.

The woman knew what she was doing.

It wasn't a while before Padme came out of the kitchen, licking her fingers and rubbing them on her shirt. Anakin didn't want her to catch him staring, but he couldn't help it. First, she made him a feast. Then, she told him to vaporize his shock collar. And now, he was watching her lick her fingers from the cake mix clean.

"We should vaporize things more often," she said with her usual happy smile plastered on her face. "It was fun."

Anakin felt the corners of his lips twitch a little. He could see where she would find it fun. To him though, as you can obviously guess, it was something totally, completely, utterly different. For the first time in his (up to now, at least) miserable life, he had, however little, been given control over who he was. Of course he didn't consider himself free, but it was a different feeling, a fleeting sense of liberation that overcame him at that moment. He had hope.

And it was all Padme's doing. She jumped on the sofa opposite him, and put her hands behind her head as she crossed her legs in front of her. "Don't you ever get tired at all? From the standing."

Anakin shook his head, looking down, his habits etched hard into him. "No. I'm used to it."

"Well," Padme went on brightly, "I'm used to sitting. Quite comfortably, in fact. So if you would like to, then I advise you to sit as well. It's much more fun."

Anakin smiled at her, breathing out a small chuckle, at her never failing chipper humor. Carefully, as if the sofa was made of glass instead of cotton, he sat down on the edge, trying to stop himself from sinking into it too deep, ready to jump up at the slightest thing.

Old habits die hard, as I said before.

Padme studied him for a moment before continuing. "I'm glad we got rid of it though. Or you, got rid of it actually." Then she started to look worried. "Wait, that was the right thing to do, right? I mean, you wouldn't _want_ that thing-"

Anakin cut her off. If the circumstances were different, he would have found the fact that she was getting worked up over something so stupid adorable. Of course he wouldn't want that collar. But he was supposed to be wearing it _all the time._ "No, no," he said softly.

She stopped speaking immediately and looked at him with wide eyes.

"It's fine that we, you know-" Sometimes, for some reason, Anakin's words stuck in his throat and he found himself unable to continue.

Before, though, that it would look like he couldn't speak, Padme filled in the silence so quickly that she almost interrupted him. "Good, good, then. Sometimes I get so worried." She took a breath of relief, which Anakin smiled to.

"I've noticed," he said, playing along, although not meeting her eyes. Behaving like this, holding a conversation with someone other than his sister, was all very new to him.

Padme looked at him and flashed her smile, obviously happy that he had made an effort. "Hey," she said playfully. "Don't make fun of me."

Anankin knew she was joking, but he went on and associated the small reprimanding note in her voice with pain. He tried not to let his fear show through and disappoint her, but he said, "I'm not, I swear."

Padme tilted her head to the side slightly. "I was only joking,"

Anakin gulped. "I know."

Padme said, "I'm not evil."

Anakin didn't reply to her, although he was starting to believe her. Even though it was only the second day and she hadn't really dealt with him yet. Even though he hadn't fucked up somehow and given her a reason to get angry so far. Even though he spat at her feet yesterday. Even though the guards told her a bunch of lies about him that should have freaked her out.

Even though a lot of things happened to shove doubt into Anakin's head, he was actually starting to believe Padme when she tried to convince him about her good intentions. But as soon as he showed it, they would all go away.

She kept on going, "Just because I make a joke or something, I'm being sarcastic, I promise. I'm not going to..." Padme paused, thinking of her next words. "I'm not going to say, "hurt you," because I can't at this point. I mean, you're like twice my size and you look like you're made of rock. What am I going to do? Whoops, sorry Anakin, I slapped you and ended up breaking my wrist." She laughed for a second at herself, and Anakin quickly caught on and chuckled, although that would never happen. If anything, she would just call the police and they could deal with him.

"I really don't give a damn about what those oversized gorillas said about you. I honestly couldn't care less, Anakin, listen to me." She stopped and leaned forward, looking right into his eyes. While the intensity of her stare and the glare in her eyes wanted to make him squirm and look away, he found himself completely stilled. "You haven't done anything to me yet, while you obviously have the power to. Think about it for a second."

What was the point of reminding him? He knew all this. He could just kill her and run. After all, Padme was short and skinny. He was tall and well muscled. It wouldn't be a problem. But where could he possibly go where he wouldn't get caught, with consequences he didn't even want to think about? And completely aside from that, Padme was... Padme. Short and skinny. How could he do something to hurt someone so fragile?

"I have a point, don't I?"

Anakin just looked at her.

"Well?" she pressed. "Do I make any sense or not?"

"You do," Anakin said, looking down, completely unsure of what she was trying to achieve here.

"You could very easily kill me in my sleep with your bear hands," she said. " You could very well choke me to death as I dream of meadows and bunny rabbits."

Anakin's eyebrows rose on their own accord. A part of him was shocked that she would say that. And then, the other part was sort of expecting something so wack from her.

"But you won't," she said, sounding extremely convinced of herself. Then, though, she sat up straighter, her cheeks red, and her eyes big. "Or will you?"

Anakin laughed, "No."

She breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good, because we've been doing so well, and killing me would put a downer on things, don't you think?"

Anakin laughed again at her brutal, yet funny, honesty.

"But if you do decide to kill me, the vaporizer is under the sink and the kitchen has plenty of knives. And I have cleaning supplies in the pantry. You know, for all the blood, if you chose to stab me in the stomach or something."

Anakin rubbed the back of his neck. "What- why are you telling me these things?"

Padme shrugged. "Just so you know. I'm not going to try to stop you. I mean, obviously, if I see you coming at me with a knife I'm going to try and stop you, maybe beg for my life or something, but that's it. Just me trying to stop you. Not what those morons told me yesterday or the restrictions your collar might have given you. Just me," she stopped and grinned, "and my pathetic will to live."

Although he couldn't bring himself to fully believe her, Anakin softly grinned back.

"You'll believe me," she vowed. "Someday."

A day far, far away.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: THIS WAS A LOT. Or not really. But I was writing for a while. My life's been such a crisis lately. I don't want to sound spoiled or whiny, but step into my shoes for a minute, and boom, help yourself to an aneurism. And the sad thing is that I'm sure lots of people have it much worse than me, and here I am, bitching. I'm not proud of myself for a reason.**

** But thankfully, writing does give me an escape. The only thing is that it's so very hard for me to find time to do it. **

** And another thing- Rosecrystals, if you're reading this- My inbox isn't/ hasn't been working and neither can I give reviews. And the same thing to DarkLordAndros. I love both your stories, you already know that, and Rosecrystals- I ONLY READ THE FIRST HALF OF THE PM YOU SENT ME(that showed up on the prev screen on my ipod.) I'm so so so so sorry. All the people I have connections with must think I'm a cold, cruel, horrible, selfish, unhelpful, bitch. **

** DING DING DING, YOU ARE CORRECT. If the writing seems a little bit bitter, real life hardened me a teeny bit. But I can't wait for the summer and Greece! And if I'm lucky, my boyfriend gets to come! Yay! **

** Another thing( I told you my AN's would be long back in CH. 3) – the bottom of this chapter isn't very satisfying. Like I said, I'm busy. But I'm going to post again before Friday. I'll MAKE time for this story. I promise. I might be a lot of things, but one thing I'm not is a liar.**

** So Friday.**

** And finally, everyone:**

** Fic: Wingless by MyNameIsCal (Maximum Ride Fandom, it's just simply amazing. And no, they do NOT know I'm recommending their story. I don't even speak to them, unless it's a review.)**

** Song: Pandora's Box by Nik Kolidas (the first time you hear it, it sucks. The second, annoying. The third, it's stuck in your head and on your iPod. The dude rocks.)**

** Movie: Dandelion. (No. Words. SoFuckingBeautiful)**

**AND THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! I'M BLOWN AWAY BY THE SUPPORT, ADVICE, AND JUST THE WONDERFUL COMMENTS. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR MOTIVATING ME AND KEEPING ME GOING! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH IT HELPS! READ AND REVIEW! THANKS LOVLIES!**

** AND NOW, ON WITH THE GODDAMN STORY. LOVE YOU ALL!**

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><p>The day progressed fairly well, aside from the fact that during the midst of a conversation- well, it was more of Padme talking and Anakin listening, but anyways- during the midst of a conversation, Padme had forgotten that a cake was baking in the oven, and by the time she sniffed the smell- actually, it was Anakin who sniffed it first and pointed it out after she pressed and pressed him to tell her what was bothering him, but anyways- by the time she got a whiff of the batter burning to a crisp, and she managed to open the oven in a smoke filled kitchen, a small fire sat in the place where the cake used to be. Padme, being herself, freaked out and almost went into cardiac arrest, and if it hadn't been for Anakin and his instilled quick thinking which ended up putting out the fire, cleaning out the kitchen, and clearing up the smoky air that had spread out into the entire first floor- well, the house would have been burned down.<p>

And then, as to be expected, Anakin closed up like a clam right after professional help had arrived onto the house to asses the damage and give Padme a new stove. Of course, Padme tried and tried and tried _fruitlessly_ to get Anakin comfortable in his skin again, as he was almost getting to a few hours ago, but it was borderline useless. The second that Anakin realized what had just transpired, he had tensed up as if he was preparing himself physically, and mentally, for some sort of beating. Padme forcefully tried to convince him otherwise, sitting with him on the couch as the crew re-did that part of her kitchen, although the looks that he got from all the people(other than Padme) in that house didn't help at all.

And at one point, it was like Padme's efforts were catapulted back to square negative ten.

Before I go on, one thing you should know about Anakin is that he's extremely intelligent and a very skilled mechanic. When he was too young for manual labor, his Masters would throw him into their garages and have him fix their vehicles all day long. A few times a he screwed up, but he never really got punished for it sense he always fixed the problem right away.

But then he grew older, and turned into a handsome young lad with muscles, and his Masters found more use for him lifting bricks and moving carts and kissing their asses instead of doing something that was remotely productive.

The last time he had held a tool and touched a machine in need of his help was about ten years ago. You couldn't blame the kid for watching what the engineer was doing, turning nails with multiple screwdrivers, inserting allen-keys, hammering parts together. You couldn't blame him for grimacing when the engineer did something wrong, something that he would have done differently.

It's not his fault that they hadn't managed to take was his facial expressions- it wasn't fair for them to expect him not to think.

But they thought otherwise, apparently, because the engineer that Anakin was following felt his stare and stopped in his tracks.

The engineer out down his screwdriver, and slowly raised his head, his cold eyes landing right in the middle of Anakin's gaze. Immediately, Anakin was uncomfortable, and he wanted to fidget. He desperately wished that Padme would hurry up in the bathroom and come down already, because as much of a pathetic coward as he was, he didn't want to face whatever that man was about to say.

He knew the look that he got anywhere. Normally, it came hand in hand with a whip.

"You got something you wanna say to me, boy?" The engineer's tone was hard and menacing, just begging for Anakin to say something to turn on his violent side.

Anakin wasn't an idiot. Anything that came out of his mouth would be taken the wrong way and used against him. Looking down, he quickly shook his head as a block of lead formed in his stomach.

"Then why were you staring at me, boy? Think I'm doing something wrong?"

Again, Anakin quickly shook his head, inching back in the couch. All the noise around them had stopped. The other workers had probably wanted to hear what was going on. A few even came and stood under the doorway, giving themselves a perfect view.

"Huh? Is my work not to your satisfaction, _slave_?" he sneered. "Think you know this better than I do?"

Anakin shook his head again, begging to whatever powers there were to make the man stop.

The man stood up. Anakin couldn't breathe.

"I don't think you mean it," he said, laughing when his sentence was down. He took a few menacing steps toward Anakin. Anakin had moved so far back that another inch would make him fall off the couch.

Then the man stopped, and his tone was eerily gentle. "Do you mean it?"

Anakin looked up at him and met his evil, taunting eyes. "Yes," he whimpered.

The next thing he knew something that backhanded him across the face, slicing through his cheek as his blood pooled into his mouth. He cried out in pain as his hands flew to protect his face, not even bothering to look at his attacker. He had entered survival mode, where his only concern was not how much pain he got, or not to bleed, but to live, and to do that, he needed to keep his skull intact. All the other bones and burns and bruises could heal.

Closed off from the outside world, his hearing numb, he didn't hear Padme fly out the washroom at the sound of his voice, but all he felt was the worker continue to beat him.

He didn't realize that Padme was screaming for him to stop. All he understood was that one minute, he was being crushed and then the next minute he wasn't, because Padme had taken matters into her own hands, and in a flying leap, she tackled the burly man off Anakin, throwing him on the floor.

Quickly, she scrambled off him and rushed to Anakin's side, who was still in a daze, and briskly examined the damage before turning back to the worker, struggling as he got up.

"What the hell were you doing, you sociopath?" she screeched. "What the hell were you _doing_?"

By the look on her face, Anakin could wager that she was absolutely furious.

The worker attempted to justify himself. "That slave was giving me lip here-"

Anakin instantly felt cheated, since he hadn't even opened his mouth, and he hated how Padme would agree with the worker. He wanted to speak up, to defend himself, but he couldn't find his voice.

"And I'll deal with it!" she finished, yelling. "You're not his Master! You have no right, whatsoever, none, nada, zilch, to lay a hand on him! Did I give you my express permission? Did I? Did I?" she fired. The worked had turned beet red, and was akwardly standing with his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Anakin couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't come up with any logical reason why she had come to his defense.

"With all due respect, Senator Amidala, that slave over there," he jabbed a fat finger to Anakin, who winced, and Padme, watching their interaction, narrowed her eyes to dangerous slits, "was being extremely out of place."

"How?" she demanded.

"He was being a smart one, telling me what to do as if I were doing it wrong," the worked finished, sounding confident that he had proven the fact that he had given Anakin what he deserved, no more, no less.

_Here it goes,_ thought Anakin dreadfully. _Padme can't keep defending me forever._

"And I wouldn't be surprised!" she said in her shrill, high voice. "I bet the second I turn that oven on, it's going to blow my entire house up, you incompetent little snot!"

"Senator-"

"No, shut the hell up, you jealous son of a bitch. Normally I wouldn't pick on people's insecurities, but I think you _know _that you have no idea what in the world you're doing, and you can't handle the fact that Anakin, who just so happens to be of lower status than you, picked you out on it, so what do you do?"

Padme paused for a second, to let all the emotions in the room sink in- shock to the onlookers, embarrassment to the worker, amazement for Anakin- before she went on with her rampage of insults.

"You blow up like a little overweight five year old who spent his afternoons bullying the rest of the class." Padme put her hands on her hips. "A _screwdriver_? Who hits someone with a _screwdriver_? For God's sake, use your hands! Or can you not control where your limbs go because you're just lacking that much brain control?"

She waited a beat and then answered her own question. "I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case."

Padme turned on her heel and kneeled before Anakin. When she touched him, he started involuntarily shaking. Slowly, she put her hand to the gash on his cheek and let her fingertips dip into the crimson liquid pooling there. She muttered profanities, the look in her eyes something beyond human emotion. It scared Anakin. He's seen that look before. He knew that Padme had just... well, completely humiliated and told off a man who would normally be praised for what he had just done to him. He knew that Padme defended him more in those few minutes more than he had even been his whole life. But still. He's seen that look way too many times, and each one of those times it was associated with pain.

Padme opened her mouth, but irritation filled her features and she turned around suddenly.

"Why the hell are you still here? Or can you not take a hint?"

The man kept on looking at her, rubbing his two fingers together in front of him, before Padme began to laugh.

"You're. FIRED. If I hadn't made myself clear already. I'm not going to pay you. You can either stay here and wait for the authorities, and my personal team of protectors, or you can leave, and the next time you hear from me will be from my lawyers."

Good thing that man and his idiot team of mechanics had the smarts to choose the one that would spare them the most.

It wasn't that he couldn't physically believe what had happened to him, because I can assure you, that Anakin knew everything going on was very very real. How Padme attacked that man from before like an angry cayote, how she yelled at him in Anakin's defence, how she took extra care in being as gentle as possible as she cleaned the cut on his face.

Anakin was very ware that it was all happening.

He just couldn't fathom _why_ it was happening. He had no possible explanation, as hard as he tried to think, he could not make sense of how all the events transpired in the past few days. Given, Padme was kinder than anyone else he had ever met... or that's what she'd made him think, at least. She was also feistier, and she seemed to be someone extremely intelligent. Most people like that didn't waste their time on broken slaves. But then again, most people like that weren't Senators and Queens either.

Nonetheless, it wasn't her job to stick up for him. If he weren't so weak, he would have done so himself already, if he weren't such a coward. It wasn't her responsibility to make sure he didn't get hurt, even if he was doing something wrong. She was doing everything backwards. Padme was supposed to sit around and be thankful that the man from before had taken the liberty to discipline her slave. Padme wasn't supposed to be cleaning his face with a cloth and anti-bacterial cream and begging his forgiveness. It wasn't as if he couldn't do it himself. It wasn't as if that was a right he had in the first place.

Anakin was a slave. How could she not see that? Or did she just not care?

Anakin looked carefully at Padme as she washed away the drying blood from his face, using a soft towel and featherlight touches. Afraid of what he might see, he refused to meet her eyes. She must have thought he was pathetic for being too afraid to fight back earlier. But fighting back, he knew, only got him into more trouble. He made it a reflex to stop his reflexes.

"If I'm hurting you, just let me know," she said softly.

Anakin kept still, hoping that she took his silence for an answer.

"Well?" she asked, although there was nothing hard in her tone. "Is that a 'yes' or a 'no' ?" 

Although he really didn't want to talk and his vocals were tangled in his throat, he managed to force out a "yes," because in all truth, Padme had been better to him than he ever deserved and she didn't deserve his pettiness to make her angrier than she probably already was.

"Okay, good," she said, sounding relieved. "We're almost done...I just don't want this to get infected, okay?"

"Okay."

She grinned. "Wonderful."

At her impossibly bright tone, Anakin was unable to chuckle inside his chest.

It didn't take long after that for Padme to clean Anakin up, but it was clear his cut needed professional help. However, at the mention of the word "doctor," the look of fright that crossed Anakin was enough to make Padme stumble over herself saying why doctors, in fact, are not needed and they wouldn't be going to one anytime soon.

However, they did leave the bathroom, because Padme still had a stove in the middle of her living room, and she kicked out the team before they could clean up her kitchen, from both what happened before they arrived, and the pieces of wall and floor that they had removed and never got to put back in.

When Padme and Anakin got down to the main floor and saw the mess before them, Anakin saw Padme grimace, followed by a load groan.

"What the heck am I gonna do now? Ugh!"

Anakin found her distress a little bit adorable and looked on with amusement.

She noticed and turned slightly. "You must think I'm such a brat. But the last time I touched a machine, it exploded. I kid you not."

Despite the sting in his cheek, Anakin placated her and chuckled. Something in her face changed, making her seemed pleased. All because, Anakin thought, he laughed at her corny little joke.

Wow.

"Anyways," she went on, surveying the damage. "How the hell am I going to clean this up? I'm definitely not going to call them back, I'm not giving those bastards that satisfaction. But still-"

"I could help," Anakin spoke up quietly, his voice barely audible. It took courage for him to say that, out of turn, in the middle of her sentence, but he couldn't help himself. He couldn't sit around and do nothing while Padme suffered thinking about how to handle a situation that he should have done himself already.

Stunned in shock, Padme gasped, and for a second Anakin thought she was angry. But she went on, "Oh no. I could never ask that of you."

"I wouldn't mind." He looked down, for some reason, embarrassed.

Padme seemed skeptical. "Are you sure?"

This time he looked up. "I'll do it, ma'am." That last part slipped out. As much as he wished he could take it back, it wasn't possible.

Padme sighed. "Please don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel like an old lady. Do I look old?"

How was he supposed to answer that?

As if cutting him off, Padme held her hand up, "No, that was rhetorical. I haven't been getting much sleep lately."

Anakin chuckled, although she looked perfect. Beyond perfect. In fact, she put perfect to shame. He didn't dare voice that, though.

Padme was silent again, if only for a second, before saying, "Alright. I feel incredibly guilty but thank you. Because I would never be able to do this on my own. I'll owe you forever. Thank you so much."

She looked at him full of sincerity, as if he were doing her a favor, not as if he was doing a given. She looked at him like it was his choice to _help_ her clean up the mess, not clean it up himself because of the law or his status.

For once in his life, Anakin was treated like an equal.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry I lied. Well, not really. I forgot that Friday was my Summer Formal, and there was an after party... and we all got wasted and I was sleeping halfway through Saturday, and then I hit the gym to get back in my routine.**

**PM's, reviewing, review replys... still not working. **

**So, if I like your story, like ahem... ROSECRYSTALS...I haven't been able to show it. and I'm so so sorry.**

**Some people might not like this chapter. But all I wanted to say is that Padme, like everyone else, has a temper, even if hers is marginally lower than most.**

**So enjoy =)**

**And this AN is lacking my usual recs because I need to leave right now. My dad just honked outside. In the next update, I'll have everything I owe =)**

**AND PLEASE REVIEW! THANKS!Oh, and to: ebonyXivory777 - I think you're a very awesome person :) and I totally agree, haha. Thanks for the awesome review =)**

**Rosecrystals- UPDATE SOON MISSY! UPDATE SOON! BEFORE I DIE! And thanks for reviewing me even though I went 3 chapters without reviewing you( GASP!)**

**love you all!**

* * *

><p>Being trained a machine, Anakin didn't see the world around him as he worked around Padme's kitchen. If he'd been outside his tunnel vision though, he would have heard her delicate little groans of distaste as she filled countless bags of garbage, and bits of wall that had fallen off in the fire. Anakin took the job of repairing any( many) holes that had formed in the wall, by filling them with cement and then painting over it once it dried to match the rest of the room. Padme, on the other hand, couldn't help but notice how swiftly Anakin went along and how well he did it. She was lucky to have him; not only because of his usefulness, but she knew very well that she wasn't a total idiot and once she helped him soften his shell, he would make wonderful company, not that he already didn't.<p>

But in all honesty, Padme was absolutely furious at the events that has transpired earlier. She tried to contain herself and hide it, mostly for Anakin's sake, as so not to frighten him and make him feel more threatened than he already did, but it was difficult, like she was a bag of chips being squeezed. The hot air inside her, she wanted so badly to let it out and scream. But she knew she couldn't do that.

It didn't take a while before they had finished cleaning the area, the only thing undone being the incomplete oven left in the middle of the living room.

As both of them stood beside it in silence, Padme could wait no longer and turned to Anakin. "You must think I'm very very annoying. And I am."

She waited for his response. He did nothing but give her a blank stare, making her supress as sigh. Getting a reaction out of Anakin was like pulling her teeth out.

"Are you actually any good with mechanics?"

He slowly nodded at her- she sensed he knew what she was about to say. She had noticed he was exceptionally perceptive like that.

"Can you fix my oven? Please?"

Anakin agreed to her request quicker and more enthousiastically than she excpeted, although when she voice her happiness at his ferver, he stopped and cowered like a whipped dog, telling her that she should probably find someone else for the job because he would screw it up anyway... Well, not in those exact words, but you get the jist of Anakin's low level of self worth.

In the end, though, it was Padme who won, although we both know that Anakin probably was having a sugar rush inside, handling that oven. Even though it was an oven, and nothing like what he had worked on a decade ago, it was still on opportunity to bust his chops engineering. Padme saw behind the mask he wore- she saw the longing, the sense of belonging as he quickly worked. She handed him a tool he needed, and right away it was applied.

She couldn't believe she wasted her money and time on a bunch of idiot rednecks when she had possibly the greatest mechanic ever right in her grasp.

She should have been shocked, but she had it coming when Anakin pointed out a mistake in the object's internal demise. Even though he was doing her a _favor,_ he still sounded apologetic when he requested a small piece of metal to fix it, seeing that it made her get up. Padme couldn't even believe how servile he acted around her, even though he _was_ a slave. She got the feeling that something worse beyond comprehension had happened to him wherever he'd been hidden from her all those years.

"Now I can see why you told that jackass that he was doing a bad job," she said lightly, although there was a questioning curiosity behind her tone. Anakin, for obvious reasons, didn't seem like the type of guy to just go voicing his opinions everywhere. She had more than enough reason to believe that the worker was lying and even if he wasn't... well, still, she wouldn't be mad in the slightest toward Anakin, because he'd been right either way.

"I didn't, uh-" Anakin paused and laid down a complicated looking tool as he rung his hands together uncomfortably, "I didn't... actually... say anything." His voice was soft and wary, as if treading on murky waters.

Padme had an, _aha, I knew it! _Moment. "Ah hah! I _knew _it!" she screeched, overly excited.

She never fully grasped that her hyperactivity was not the best way to go about in keeping Anakin calm after such a... well, traumatizing experience.

"I'm not lying, I swea-"

"Oh no, Anakin," Padme cried, instantly regretful, wishing she could recant, "I never meant it like that! I'm just- you'd be right, anyway, but still- you're just- you're so talented, and they weren't, and I shouldn't be paying them, I should be paying you, but I can't because I'm not allowed to and it just _sucks!"_

Anakin looked at her with something akin to amusement, waiting for her to go on.

And being on a roll, she did. "That man had no right to do anything today! That lying, son of a bitch! And even if you had called him the worst possible insult, he still had no right, because, well, it's just _wrong!"_

She huffed a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"I'm sorry, did I freak you out?"

With the bare trace of a smile, Anakin shook his head, and resumed working.

While the man who viciously beat Anakin for "questioning" his work spent hald the days at Padme's house and didn't even get a third done with the new oven, Anakin finished in a matter of an hour and a half.

He easily maneuvered it to the kitchen, and as he did, Padme couldn't help but looking at is tanned, muscled arms. He could have easily taken the man from before. But he didn't- Padme knew that his lack of fighting back was just out of... habit.

He hooked everything up perfectly.

Opening her new oven and peering in, Padme joked, "I hope I don't blow up this one too."

Anakin chuckled. Padme felt satisfied- that was good. He must have been feeling more comfortable.

She looked around. The area was better and brighter looking than it even was before.

She put her hands on her hips, and grinned. "Well, I'll say that we make quite a team."

Anakin looked wary, but he smiled softly anyway. She knew he smiled just to appease her.

"So, you hungry?" she said, filling the silence.

Anakin shook his head. "Not...really."

"Nonsense!" she said, and went over to the phone. "Obviously, I'm not in the mood to cook any

more today, so I'll just... order take out. Okay?"

She began to dial, but then paused, thinking of something. "Hey Anakin... do you like ribs?"

It turns out that Anakin did like ribs. Very much, actually. Padme amused herself by watching Anakin trying to be restrained while eating, but she honestly wouldn't mind one bit. He was probably extremely hungry, and he was probably allowed to eat on a very rare basis.

And plus, he was absolutely gorgeous.

Wait, what? Padme knew she couldn't think like that. But as a young woman, how could she not? She was seventeen years old and she'd never courted anyone, never kissed a boy, she never got butterflies in her tummy. Although she was more mature then most of the others her age, because of her profession and what she was born into, she was still a girl.

Anakin had the fullest lips in a boy she'd ever seen. They weren't too full for his face, but they were just the right size and shape, with soft slopes and curves. He had high yet soft cheekbones, with clear blue eyes that when they weren't clouded by constant fear and suspicion, were extremely expressive.

And his hair... tousled, toasted gold, nearly reaching his shoulders. Padme found herself, more times than one, wanting herself to run her hands through it.

But she knew she couldn't.

She couldn't jump to that and break any connection they were forming by letting her selfish feelings get in the way. And anyway, Anakin probably could never even feel the same way. Not that she was insecure about herself, but she wasn't the most beautiful in the litter or the sharpest tool in the shed.

It didn't make her upset- she was fine with that, accepting what she was. The only thing that disappointed her was that she could be better- although again, dwelling on that would be letting herself getting in the way of trying to help Anakin heal.

The situation was awkward enough- under the eyes of the unwavering law, she owned Anakin,

every fiber of his being. She didn't like that one bit, as you probably guessed, and all her attempts to be his friend could either be seen as mockery, or an act of charity. She really hoped Anakin never thought of her that way, because she'd been trying to do neither. Back to the point though- the situation was awkward enough, feeling that you're owned by someone else. The last thing someone like Anakin needed would be to have someone like Padme constantly fawning over him.

After they both finished eating, Padme asked Anakin if he wanted to sit with her for a little bit in the living room to talk. Of course, he came along, but she hoped that she would be able to get him to loosen up a little bit.

"I hope I'm not nagging," Padme said once they sat down, "I just wanted us to talk for a little bit." Because Anakin didn't yet have the courage, Padme knew, to voice his feelings on his own, she hoped that by guessing what they were and reassuring him, he would become more comfortable around her.

Anakin looked at her strangely, the same look that she had been getting at times from him whenever... Well, she didn't actually know what he tried to get through or what it meant. It was just a very, very strange, borderline surprised look. He shook his head. Padme took that as a sign to keep going.

"I just wanted to talk for a little bit, if that's okay." Again, she was speaking overly cautiously.

Anakin shrugged. Padme discovered that was his warped, oppressed way of answering verbally, of saying it didn't matter if it was okay with him or not. If she thought about it too much, Padme was sure she would feel her heart crack. She just kept on speaking, trying to overlook that little fact.

She put on a brave face and smiled at him. "Okay. That's good. That's really good." She breathed out. "Do you have any hobbies?"

Anakin shrugged again. This time, Padme figured, he said that they didn't matter.

She gulped, hoping that she didn't make her way onto raw grounds with her next words. "That's not an answer, you know."

Anakin looked at her questioningly, although she could swear she saw him cower back in the slightest.

See, that's what she didn't get at all. How, a few hours ago, he could work so confidently and effortlessly, but now, he was behaving like a beaten pup. It was like he had separate modes that switched on accordingly to how he could protect himself the best.

That was it, Padme guessed. Self preservation.

"You must have hobbies. I know you don't get much free time, but you still must have something you like to do. Or wish you could do. Or something."

Again, Anakin shrugged. "I don't." His voice was barely above a whisper. Dreadfully, Padme found herself wondering what she could have done to frighten him down to that level.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm sorry if I did something to bother you."

Anakin shook his head, shrugging. Growing frustrated, Padme raised her voice level. 

"Can you _please_ stop being so _silent?_ Can't you just _say something?_ God!"

Instantly, Padme clamped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late.

Anakin bolted.


	6. Chapter 6

**Next update will be before 4 days, because i'm going to greece then and I want something up before that, since I have no idea when I'll be able to update again. **

** A note about somethings in this chapter:**

**There's some interaction between Anakin and his sister, which we finally get to meet. I tried not to be too violent and gory, but... it didn't really work. So for child abuse, cursing, and general nastiness from adults, this chapter is rated M or highly T. Don't say I didn't warn you.**

**Another thing about the interaction: I tried to make it realistic- if it was me and my sister(thank God its NOT) and I was Anakin and she was the girl, I would do exactly what he's doing. IDK, if you have a sibling you'll understand. **

**The italics is NOT flashbacks. It's just a scene in the past. When there's a flashback, I will write :FLASHBACK before the actual flashback. Okay.**

** Anyways. Thanks so much to all my reviewers! You're all AMAZING! Unfortunetaly, FF hates me AGAIN and isn't letting me review other people's stories. They were amazing chapters Rosecrystals! And DarkLordAndros, your story is coming along wonderfully.**

** ANYWAYS. IF FF ISN'T BEING BRATTY TO YOU THEN YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR NOT REVVING. This chappy is 12 pages and it KICKED MY ASS. So please, show my bruised ass some love. Thank you:) **

** Song: Life After You, Chris Daughtry**

** Movie: Blood Diamond**

** Fanfiction: Not Tourists But Travelers(Blood diamond verse) and as usual, the author is unaware of me advertising.**

** Now, last weeks:**

** Song: Because You Live, Jesse McCartney**

** Movie: Keith**

**Fanfiction: Times Infinity( where Keith lives and goes into remission. Yay, remission!)**

_Fourteen year old Anakin Skywalker stood right in the middle of the podracing stadium, his body quaking with shakes. His hands were clammy, clamped into fists at his sides, as his eyes scanned the crowd of hundreds of thousands of beings nervously, before his eyes singled her out._

_ He let out the breath of relief he'd been holding. His sister was fine. Although, he could sense that their Master was holding on to her painfully tightly, she was alright. She was fine, _he repeated to himself.

_Sounds of praise and cheers erupted from all around the stadium... they were all for him, all the wild screams were for a fourteen year old slave who just so happened to easily win the first speeding podrace of his life._

_ Anakin couldn't find the joy in any of this, he just couldn't. He did what he had to do in order to save his sister. He wasn't getting any special reward or privilege for his victory. His sister dropped a bunch of plates earlier that week. Anakin took the blame for her. But, their Master being a cruel bastard, he had decided to punish the girl for Anakin's "wrong". In return, Anakin offered to put himself in the podrace, and if he won, his sister was spared._

_ But living with that man all his life, Anakin knew that he would find some way to inflict some sort of terror on the both of them. Anakin dreaded the thought of going home so much that he couldn't bring himself to feel even a grain of happiness. The block of lead in his stomach was just too heavy. _

_ Obi-Wan Kanobi could hardly believe his eyes. A slave, winning a podrace. A _podrace._ And not only that, but a fourteen year old newcomer. Won. _

_ There was something, though, something about the boy was not only his stance, or the look on his face, or the sweat beading on his forehead...his whole image was off. _

_ Most people in his position would be ecstatic, jumping up and down in pure excitement. The enormous sum of money they'd receive would surely be enough to by their freedom... and much more. So, naturally, Obi-Wan was concerned at his lack of enthusiasm. Of course, Obi-Wan guessed the boy had been through hardships, he was a slave after all, and that he'd have to give the remaining amounts of his money to his Master after he paid for his freedom... but this kid... No. Something was definitely wrong. _

_ It was by total, and complete chance, that Obi- Wan happened to bump into the boy, and as he did so, he could hardly believe his luck. It was unbelievable. _

_ The participants in the Podrace were released out through a special door, for both protection and privacy, out the back of the stadium. No one was allowed behind there, but because of his high status as both a Jedi knight, and trainer, Obi-Wan was allowed to exit through the same way as the players, as well as other significant officials._

_ However, he was certain that the boy's Master would at least come in and personally pick him up, for both protection reasons and the publicity. _

_ In Obi-Wan's excitement, he hadn't realized he bumped into the boy hard enough to knock him down. As he bent down to help the dazed and confused boy, he tried to ignore the looks he got from the passerby's. Most looked upon the two with distate- an honorable Jedi helping a slave boy. A few others though, cast looks of disgust, which Obi-Wan returned with his own frightening glare._

_ However, the boy managed to raise himself on his own, with out any help from Obi-Wan, and said frantically, "Sir, please, I'm so sorry, please, sir, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry-"_

_ Obi-Wan was about to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he stopped with apologies, because they were making Obi-Wan queasy. Had he actually believed that Obi-Wan was going to- of course he did. _

_ The kid was a slave._

_ Obi-Wan, however, was still about to hold the child, in a gentler fashion, and calmly reassure him, but they were interrupted. _

_ Slowly, Obi-Wan rose from his knees, shoulders firm, head high, to face the man who's boot clad feet he saw planted in front of the both of them. _

_ "Sir?" he said. Although he used a term of respect, his voice was that of authority. _

_ The man grinned an ugly grin. "I see you've become acquainted with my slave over here."_

_ Obi-Wan's eyes briefly widened. A boy like that didn't deserve a man like him was all he understood behind the first sentence of the man before him. _

_ "He's yours?" Obi-Wan glanced down at the boy, shaking violently, clutching his knees. He wanted to scream, "What have you done with him?" to the man before him, but he didn't see that playing out too well. _

_ "Yes, he's mine," the owner said with an air of arrogance. He slowly walked over to the boy. Obi-Wan instinctively followed. The man spoke to his slave now, "What did you do, you stupid klutz?"  
>"No-o-thing, Master," the boy stuttered, before a vicious kick to his ribcage shut him up. <em>

_ "What was that?" the Master taunted, pulling his leg back for a second one. Obi-Wan jumped in front of the boy, stopping the Master._

_ "I ran into the boy, I hadn't been looking." Their eyes met. "Leave him alone."_

_ The man began to sneer, "With all due respect, _sir,_ he's _mine._ If I want to beat the living crap out of him for breathing the wrong way, I can."_

_ Obi-Wan tilted his head, his mouth tilting slightly. He could smell a threat in the air. He felt confident enough that the only one of the receiving end of any defeat in this discussion would be his opponent. He went on. "I don't think so. There _are_ laws, you are aware, to keep minors protected." He flashed is badge. "And I _am_ qualified to enforce those laws and bestow repercussions where I see fit." Tucking his badge away, Obi-Wan threw him a daring smirk. "With all due respect."_

_ The man's former cocky grin had melted off his face, a set line set in his face. "I'd better be off, then, won't I?"_

_ Obi-Wan was impassive._

_ The man sighed mockingly. "Anakin," he said harshly. _

_ Anakin's head snapped to attention. _

_ "Up."_

_ Anakin stood, head down, mumbling, "Yes master."_

_ The master and Anakin went to leave, but Obi-Wan stopped them. "Tell me, young Anakin, what shall you do with the money you receive? Buy your freedom, perhaps?"_

_ Anakin looked at him strangely for such a quick second it was non-existant, and then he shook his head strongly. "No.. sir, I-"_

_ "He's giving it to me."_

_ Obi-Wan gritted his teeth as he slowly looked at the Master, hatred burning behind his eyes. "And why is that? Do you know that's illegal?"_

_ "Oh, I know very well. But we'd agreed to this. Hadn't we Anakin?" The Master ruffled Anakin's hair, making Anakin flinch downwards and bring his shoulders up to his ears._

_ Obi-Wan looked questioningly at Anakin. The kid was blackmailed, he knew, there was no doubt about it. "Is that so?"_

_ "Yessir," Anakin mumbled. _

_ "Why?"_

_ "Because," the Master said, "He broke something of mine, and in exchange for avoiding punishment, he will pay to fix it."_

_ "Is that all?" Obi-Wan asked Anakin, ignoring the Master._

_ "Yessir," Anakin said again. Although Obi-Wan detected a shred of truth behind Anakin's words, there was also something else. Something else, scaring the boy half to death._

_ The Master laid his fat hand on Anakin's shoulder. Anakin flinched again. "May we go know?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm._

_ "Of course," Obi-Wan said. "Although, I will be coming for a follow up."_

_ The Master glared._

_ "You know," Obi-Wan explained, "protocol. Although I don't doubt you, I still need to make sure that there's nothing else being hidden. We have too many cases. I'll be visiting in a few days to interrogate you. And the boy."_

_ Obi-Wan kept going, steadily, reading the Master's mind. "And don't worry... if Anakin's not in proper condition to answer, we'll just wait until he is. And of course, compile extra charges to yourself, Sir."_

_ Obi-Wan looked at Anakin. "I'm sure you know who I am. If you ever decide to take action, contact me."_

_ Anakin's eyes flickered with hope, but it died down quickly, and he nodded once stiffly. _

_ "Have a great day," he said sweetly, with out missing the sparkle in Anakin's eye._

_ "What did you tell him? Huh? What did you tell him, you little bastard?" _

_ "Nothing, Master!"  
>"I swear to God, boy, if you don't answer me right now, I will snap her neck in half."<em>

_ For a brief second Anakin considered letting his Master do what he will and take his sister out of their miserable existence, but a sharp cry of pain erupting from her made him rethink. He tried to keep his voice steady. "Master," he began calmly, "I didn't tell him anything, I swear."_

_ The master tightened his grip around the girl's delicate, skinny neck, making her choke on her scream._

_ "Master, please!" Anakin cried desperately struggling in his bonds, "Please, let her go! I beg of you, please!" _

_ His master simply looked at him. "If you care so much about the girl, then why don't you speak the truth?"_

_ "I am, Master, I swear."_

_ The Master forcefully threw the girl down, her head connecting with a sharp stone and making a sickening crunch. Anakin cried out in pain as if it had been him instead. _

_ "Lies!" he hissed. "Lies!"_

_ "I'm telling you the truth! I said nothing!"_

_ The Master kicked the girl in her ribcage, snapping a bone. _

_ "Stop it!" Anakin yelled, "Stop hurting her! Hit me, hit me, hit me, please!"_

_ His master smiled cruelly down at him, relishing every minute of his slave's suffering. "Not until you answer me honestly. I'll crush every bone in her body until she's dead if I have to."_

_ Anakin stared at him in disbelief, aware of the pure fury firing up in his bloodstream. Damn that man. Damn him to the deepest, darkest pit of hell._

_ "I'm not lying," he snarled out between gritted teeth. "And leave her the fuck alone, because she did nothing to you. If you need to hurt something, hurt me."_

_ "Who do you think you are, you little son of a bitch?" the Master yelled, before sharply clubbing Anakin across the face._

_ In any other situation Anakin would taste the blood quickly pooling in his mouth but now all he could focus on was that maybe he could be the one to take the pain from his sister, limp on the ground. It felt good to be hit. It felt good to know it wasn't her. _

_ However, his Master had other plans. He stomped over to the girl, and bought his foot down with what Anakin could imagine being all the weight in his body on her forearm, breaking it in half with a sickening snap. Anakin wanted to vomit, tasting the bile in his mouth._

_ This was his fault. If he had-_

_ He couldn't even think, not with the terrible noise of the pained wails of his tortured sister. He wanted to gather her in his arms and take all her pain upon himself. He would give his life to get her away from their Master, but yet, here she was, on the floor, taking a beating that was rightfully his. _

_ The girl screamed and screamed and screamed in agony, until the Master felt Anakin had had enough of that and smacked her across the face. Instead of shutting her up, it only made her cry more. And when he hit her again, her cries got louder. And louder. And louder. And louder._

_ Anakin could take no more. "Alright! Alright! I DID, I DID! I told the man everything, I told him everything, our deal,everything, please, just stop hurting her!"_

_ The Master ceased fire as soon as the words left his mouth. Pretending not to hear, he bought a taunting hand up to his ear and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that. What did you say?"_

_ "I said I lied," Anakin spoke bravely, looking into his Master's evil black eyes. "I lied to you. I told Obi-Wan everything. I told him about us. That's how he knew something was going on. Because I told him."_

_ The Master pretended to put up a disappointed face, but Anakin knew that he was enjoying this more than he had ever enjoyed anything else. "You selfish scum." He went over to the girl, dragged her roughly to Anakin by her hair, and dangled her in front of him. "You made your own flesh and blood go through that just to cover up your lies."_

_ By now, Anakin was crying. "I'm sorry," he whispered to his sister. Her eye lids fluttered. She caught it._

_ The Master tossed her carelessly at Anakin's chained feet and began to stroll back, stopping only at the door. _

_ "Unless you want her to die, you will do exactly as I tell you right now, do you understand?"_

_ Anakin looked at his Master, waiting._

_ "Let's play a game."_

_ The Master sat on a stool perched against the wall. _

_ "I'm going to pretend to interview you, and you're going to answer. For every question you get wrong, I'm going to whip her according to the number of the question I asked. And I'm going to wait until she's awake so she feels everything all over again. Got it?"_

_ Anakin trembled. "Yes, Master."_

_ The Master grinned. "Alright then."_

_ "What's your name?"_

_ "Anakin, sir."_

_ "Good. How old are you?"_

_ "Fourteen, sir." Anakin wondered exactly what the point of this was. The questions were stupid. Or, his Master was. Probably the second. _

_ "Do you have any siblings?"_

_ Anakin hesitated, looking at his Master, sure this was a trick question. He hated his Master for it. Anakin thought the two answers. If he had a sister, that would give him someone to care about, he reasoned. Someone to use as a threat. But if he didn't, well, all he had to worry for was himself. Slowly, Anakin warily said, "No."_

_ The Master grinned and said, "Good. Now. Do you have any hobbies?"_

_ "Working."_

_ "Besides that?"_

_ "Nothing."_

_ "Are you sure?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "Do you like mechanics?"_

_ "No."_

_ "Are you sure?"_

_ "Yes."  
>"Positive?"<em>

_ "Yes."  
>"Is that a yes?"<em>

_ "Yes."_

_ "Do you like mechanics?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ Anakin's eyes bulged in horror once he realized his petty mistake, but it was no use. His Master was already grinning sadistically, and rubbing his hands together._

_ "What number was that, Anakin?"_

_ Anakin opened his mouth to beg, to tell his Master to leave his sister alone, but all that came out was everything he'd eaten in the past week._

_ Anakin's Master's threat was still fresh and clear in his mind, ringing in his ears over and over again every time he opened his mouth. _

_ "Anakin," Obi-Wan said gently, "I can help you as long as you're honest." _

_ Obi-Wan scooted forward on Anakin's Master's expensive leather couch, and Anakin moved back, keeping the distance between them._

_ "Anakin," Obi-Wan tried again. "You're a minor. There are laws to help you. I'm not lying."_

_ Anakin just stared at him blankly. If it was only himself under his Master's imprisonment, he would, with out a second thought, accept Obi-Wan's offer. Of course he would. But he wasn't the only one he was thinking about._

_ Who's to say that once Anakin's Master's hears his confession, he won't snap his sister's neck? Or that he'll keep her alive and torture her until Anakin comes back?_

_ No, you see, Anakin had much bigger things to take into consideration when making decisions that could affect more people than himself. _

_ "Does he force you to race for him?" Since the day of the very first podrace, Anakin participated in fourteen more, approximately 6 a week. "Does he beat you if you don't do well?"_

_ "No," Anakin mumbled, trying his best to seem convincing._

_ "Is that a yes or a no?"_

_ "No, sir, he doesn't," Anakin said with more conviction. _That's it,_ he thought. _Play the happy slave.

_Obi-Wan sighed. "Anakin, you have multiple tendencies that lead me to believe that your Master is mistreating you. I can't do anything unless you tell me to. But I promise that I won't let him hurt you anymore if you agree to testify against him."_

_ Right, well, the word Anakin caught as operative from that little speech was _you._ Obi-Wan didn't say that he would protect Anakin and his sister. He only said he would protect Anakin._

_ That was as good as nothing to Anakin. _

_ "Okay," Obi-Wan said, "Let's change the subject. I'll let you think."_

_ Anakin nodded stiffly. _

_ "Do you have any hobbies?"_

_ Anakin froze. His mind teleported him immediately to that horrible day a few weeks ago. He could remember how he screwed up on that question, causing his beautiful sister another beating that resulted in a thick, vile gash that cut across the left side of her face. He was responsible for that. It was all his fault, and no one let him forget it. He could even see that while his sister tried to act as if it were okay, something inside her died that day. All because of him. Anakin essentially broke the one he loved most. _

_ "Well?"_

_ Obi-Wan's voice bought him back to the present. _

_ Anakin looked at him with disgust. Obi-Wan sensed Anakin's sudden hostility and edged closer. _

_ "Are you okay?"_

_ Anakin just glared daggers, his stomach turning over twice._

_ "Say something, Anakin, I can't help you unless you say something."_

_ Overcome with dizziness, Anakin felt himself slipping away from the edge of consciousness with every passing millisecond. _

_ "Anakin? Anakin, Anakin!" Obi-Wan shook him by the shoulders, trying to bring him back, but all Anakin could feel was pain. Although he knew Obi-Wan had no possible way of knowing both his shoulders were dislocated, Anakin still wanted to grab him by the throat and throw him off._

_ Trouble was, his brain forgot how to communicate with the rest of him, and he sat there limp like a battered rag doll._

_ Suddenly, in his haze, he heard his Master's voice, drenched with faux concern. "What's wrong with him?"_

_ Anakin felt himself being gently placed on the couch and then he head Obi-Wan's voice sink down to him. "I don't know, but the boy is traumatized. I asked him if he had any hobbies and he just about had a panic attack."_

_ "Did he say anything?"_

_ "He's comatose, what do you think?" Obi-Wan snapped at Anakin's Master. Anakin, for a brief second, wished that Obi-Wan knew everything and could take both him and his sister away. He seemed so sure of himself, so kind, yet firm._

_ Anakin heard his Master growl, and he half expected Obi-Wan to run out. As usual, though, he sensed Obi-Wan stand protectively in front of him. _

_ "Why won't my slave speak?"_

_ "I don't know," Obi-Wan said, "Why don't you backtrack and think? Because it's quite obvious you've done something to scare the boy."_

_ "I've done nothing," the Master shot back indignantly. "Anakin," he yelled, "Wake up."_

_ Anakin tried to force his eyelids to flutter open. They didn't._

_ "Wake up and answer me! Why won't you speak?" Something hard hit him in the face, just when Obi-Wan said, "Don't you dare! I swear, I _will _will have you arrested if you lay one more finger on that boy."_

_ "Anakin," his Master said gently. "Don't be selfish." Anakin heard what he really meant behind that. Either you wake up or I'll mess up the other side of your sister's face. "Answer the nice man. Do you have any hobbies?"_

_ Anakin forced himself to shake his head, his neck collapsing after the movement._

_ "There you go," his Master said to Obi-Wan, "He doesn't have any hobbies."_

_ "What do you like to do, Anakin?" Obi-Wan said gently._

_ "Wor-working," Anakin mumbled. _

_ His Master's grip tightened on him. _

_ "You don't like pod-racing?" Obi-Wan asked, sounding surprised. _

_ He had caught them there. Anakin felt his Master's fingernails dig deep into his flesh. He forced himself to gulp and continue. "That's part of working, isn't it?"_

_ By the way his Master's hand relaxed, Anakin could tell he had covered up nicely. _

_ Obi-Wan suppressed a large sigh, looking at Anakin with pleading eyes. "That's all you like to do?"_

_ "Yessir."_

_ Anakin's Master spoke up. "Is there a point to this anymore, sir?"_

_ Obi-Wan stood up defeated. "No. I'll be on my way." _

_ His Master stood up, pulling Anakin with him. "I'll escort you out." He carelessly shoved Anakin in front of him. "Go clean up." Anakin finished the sentence in his head bitterly. Go clean up your sister. _

_ Anakin slowly made his way up the banister, although once he heard Obi-Wan's infuriated but subdued voice reverberating through out the house, he couldn't help but follow the source of the noise. _

_ "Don't you think for a minute I bought any of it. You've trained him to say what you want him to say," Obi-Wan hissed, the noise getting clearer as Anakin reached the foot of the steps, crouching behind a large vase._

_ "Now why would you even think that?" Anakin's Master sounded surprisingly convincing, but Anakin didn't fail to notice the edge of mockery lacing his words. He knew that voice too well for his own good. _

_ "Listen to me, and listen well," Obi-Wan began, "I will catch you, and if I have to spend every second until that boy turns eighteen trying, then so be it. But you're not fooling me. I see bastards who play the same game as you all the time. You're not going to get away for abusing that boy."_

_ "Last time I check, with all due respect, there isn't a rule book on how to treat your slaves."_

_ "Then you missed something, because it's very clear in the contract that you sign upon purchase that you will not senselessly beat your slave as long as it is a minor, and correct me if I'm wrong but that's exactly what you've been doing." _

_ Anakin held his breath. His Master didn't deny it. "Too bad you don't have any proof of it, do you now?"_

_ Through gritted teeth Obi-Wan said, "No, but I'll be back. And I pray that you slip so I have some."_

**That Same Day**_:_

_ For the first time in a while, it was Anakin himself who hung from the whipping post, and it was his sister that was tied down to a chair and forced to watch._

_ The smell of fresh blood and copper had saturated the air among them. Breathing it and knowing it was his own made Anakin sick, but he felt surprisingly better than he did when it was his sister's sliced flesh wafting through the air. Anakin could take anything as long as it was forced onto him._

_ After Obi-Wan left, Anakin's Master discovered him hiding behind the fern, and as he raised his hand up above his head, ready to bring it crashing down onto Anakin's face, the boy's nearly mutilated sister had jumped into the scene out of nowhere and flung herself in front of Anakin, receiving the blow on herself._

_ This was where the both of them got._

_ "You shouldn't have done that," Anakin quietly told his sister once he was sure his Master was gone. _

_ "I'm sorry," she cried, "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would- I thought I would be the one who-"_

_ "It's not that," Anakin hissed. "You got hit, Serenity. In your face. Again. In your face." Anakin started crying, however the pressure of the buildup of his tears in his chest wasn't doing much to help the pain accumulated in there from the beating. "I've done this to you. Your face is covered in bruises- you're covered in blood."_

_ "The bruises will fade," the girl said matter-of-factly. "The blood's going to dry, and then I'm going to wash it off. It's not going to scar, so don't worry."_

_ Anakin didn't listen to her. His body wracking with sobs of guilt, he managed to shake his head. "I deserve this. I deserve this and more. I hope he comes back and-"_

_ "Shut up!" she screamed. "I hope he never comes back, Anakin! I hope he gets a heart attack and dies."_

_ "He shouldn't have hurt you."_

_ "But he did, and it's not your fault, okay? That's how he punishes you. Through me. I thought we've accepted that."_

_ "How can I accept that? You're my sister!"_

_ "I know that," she said, "But it doesn't matter. We're slaves, Anakin. We should make the best of what we have."_

_ "We don't have anything," Anakin mumbled._

_ "That's not true," she said softly. _

_ Anakin looked at her questioningly, the motion reminding himself of where he was. Strung up by thorned ropes to a piece of wood drenched in more blood than what was left in his entire body, and the cause of it a heavy hooked chain. Oh yeah. He really was a lucky boy. _

_ His sister stared at him, as if the answer was right there. _

_ "Anakin," she said finally. "Anakin. We have each other."_

_ Anakin felt like crying all over again. This was where they had found themselves, in this pile of shit, and yet the girl was still grateful. Only her, Anakin thought._

_ "That's not enough," he said. "Having me won't keep you alive-"_

_ "How do you know?"_

_ "It hasn't been working very well."_

_ "Well, I'm not dead, am I?" she shot._

_ "No, but you're pretty close," Anakin fired back. _

_ "Anakin, stop it. Stop feeling guilty."_

_ "Sorry," he said sharply. "Can't."_

_ "Yes, you can, but you're a masochist, so you don't even want to."_

_ "That's not true," Anakin said defensively._

_ "Is too."_

_ "Is not," he said back._

_ "Is too! Anakin!"_

_ "No, it's not!"_

_ "Yes, it is!"_

_ "No, it's not!"_

_ "Is too!"_

_ "Is not!"_

_ "Fine!" Serenity said, crossing her arms through the chains linking her wrists. Anakin let out breath, thinking he had won._

_ "Thank you," he said._

_ "No problem," she smiled. "And Anakin?"_

_ "What?" he looked at her._

_ "I love you."_

_ A new batch of tears sprang to Anakin's swollen eyes. He couldn't understand why he was getting so emotional. Oh right. Because the sister who he sends to death's doorstep every single day not only was just joking around with him like they were nothing but siblings, but she just told him that she loved him, Anakin assumed despite everything that had transpired between her and their Master._

_ "Thanks," he said, his voice catching. "I love you too."_

_ "Anakin?" she said after a while._

_ "Yeah?"_

_ "Is too."_

_ The grin that spread across Anakin's face felt good but it didn't last long. _

_ "Talking, are we?"_

_ Anakin froze as chills racked through his body. _

_` The heavy footsteps of his Master coming from behind him grew nearer. Anakin cast a look at his sister- she was shaking in her chair, leaning as far back as she would go. _

_ A hand clamped on the back of his neck. Anakin grit his teeth to keep from crying out in pain. _

_ "Well?" his Master pressed. "Didn't I tell you not to talk?"_

_ Anakin breathed, "Yes Master, I'm..." he stopped, pausing to breathe. "Sorry. I'm sorry."_

_ "Who spoke first?"_

_ The siblings answered simultaneously, and then glared at each other. Anakin wanted to pummel her. His Master, though, caught on quickly._

_ He laughed knowingly. "Communicating between yourselves isn't going to help. Let me ask again- who said the first word?"_

_ "I did," Anakin said, rushing the words out before his sister._

_ "Of course you did," his Master said, his lips twitching upwards. "You've always had a big mouth."_

_ Anakin kept quiet, every muscle in his body tensing. Anakin's Master let go of him, patted him on the back, and walked around to his sister. _

_ Anakin froze, his blood lighting on fire at the mere thought of his Master touching his sister. _

_ "Why don't you tell him to listen to me?" his Master said, as the girl moved her head so she wasn't looking at him. Anakin watched anxiously._

_ "Well?"_

_ He slapped her. Anakin cried out, "No!" _

_ Anakin's Master looked at him and grinned, before kneeling down to the girl's level."Answer me," he told the girl. "Why can't you get him to listen to me? Why don't you tell him to obey?"_

_ The girl started turning her face from the twisted position it had been forced into, paused as if stopping to think, and then finished rotating, leaving her looking straight into her Master's eyes._

_ "He does," she spat, her voice low, "So there's nothing to say."_

_ The Master laughed, somehow finding the humor in all this. "Oh, but he talks a lot, doesn't he? Stupid, pointless chatter?"_

_ "No," she said, "that's you."_

_ "Serenity, shut the hell up," Anakin said._

_ The Master laughed again, grabbing the girl's hair. "How dare you speak to me that way, you insolent little whore? Sticking up for that, who talks to you like that?" He smacked her. "Do neither of you brats have any sense of self preservation?"_

_ "Oh, we do-" she began again, only to be cut off by Anakin._

_ "Shut the hell up!"_

_ "But you have no sense of human dignity, so it doesn't really matter how hard we try to protect ourselves, does it?"_

_ Anakin groaned, wanting to scream out in frustration. Did the girl have any idea when to keep her mouth shut?_

_ "Say one more word and I swear I'm going to slice up whatever bit of your face you have left."_

_ "Serenity," Anakin begged. "Please, please, please, please-"_

_ "Go ahead," she said bravely. "Now I can match."_

_ "Don't listen to her," Anakin told his Master. "She's only doing what I told her to do while you were gone- I- I wanted- I wanted less-less-less pain from you, so- so I told her to go against you so- so- so you could focus on-on her- instead of me."_

_ At this point, Anakin was sure the fear in his voice and inability to get through his lie made him completely unconvincing, but he was rather pleasantly surprised. His Master roughly shoved the girl's head down and took a few steps to Anakin, walking behind him slowly._

_ His eyes met his sisters. Her face was red from the slaps- the left side had vicious fresh trails of red going from her temple to her chin. He silently told her that he wouldn't be able to live with himself should anything else happen to her. She silently told him she understood._

_ "Oh, how did I know? I knew it!"_

_ He punched the back of Anakin's head, bringing dots of black cloud Anakin's vision._

_ "You selfish scum!"_

_ He punched Anakin again. _

_ "What must I do to make you work right?"_

_ Again._

_ Then, the blows suddenly stopped coming. _

_ "I got it." His Master snapped his fingers. Anakin could feel the fresh wave of fear radiating from his sister, although he, at this point didn't even care. _

_ Anakin didn't have the energy left to keep his eyes open, so he nearly jumped when he felt large fingers groping at his jaw and prying his mouth open. He heard his sister gasp._

_ He wanted to try and figure out what was being done to him, but he couldn't bring himself to think. _

_ Something cold and hard was placed against his teeth. His tongue hit it, and Anakin realized it was metal. _

_ "This'll teach you to keep you mouth shut."_

_ Anakin just hung there limply as he felt one of his back teeth be placed in between two metal prongs. He knew he should be terrified- he should be shaking under his skin. But he wasn't. In fact, Anakin felt oddly calm about everything going on. _

_ The grip the metal had on his teeth tightened._

_ He heard his sister breathing rapidly- his Master's breath, hot on his ear, didn't send the chill it was supposed to down his spine. _

_ And then his mouth being torn in half. Anakin started to panic and tried to get away, although none of his body would move, as if his brain had forgotten how to communicate with his limbs. A pain unlike anything he'd ever felt before shot through everywhere in his skull. _

_ He tried to scream but he couldn't. He felt like he was drowning in his body, the weight of his bones paralyzing him. _

_ Meanwhile, his sister screamed bloody murder. _

"Anakin," Padme said unsteadily. She didn't want to touch him but it looked like she would have to. "Anakin, wake up."

A few moments ago, Padme, seeing the point Anakin reached, had flung herself at him, only to stop at the very last second, unsure of laying a hand on him would be the best idea.

So there she was, kneeling beside Anakin, who was curled up into a ball in the corner of the foyer, his head buried in between his knees, rocking back and forth, with her hands hovering inches about his ribcage.

"Anakin, can you hear me?" she said gently into his ear, trying to calm herself. She'd never seen anyone get like this, and her lack of knowledge of how to respond made her worried just a little bit.

She could hear him muttering to himself, eyelids pressed tightly together, but she could not make out what it was that he was saying. Whatever it was, though, she came to the conclusion that it was causing him distress.

"Anakin," she tried again for a final time. In response, all she heard was a loud and clear, sharp, "no!" His face twisted into agony, and he screamed through gritted teeth.

That was enough for Padme.

The second her hands made contact with Anakin, he violently jolted awake, instantly sitting upwards and flinging himself against the wall, chest heaving up and down, his eyes closed, his head leaning back.

As Padme looked at him, she saw how his fists were tightly balled together, and bright red was trickling from his left palm and onto the floor.

Holding her hands up in surrender, she cautiously edged closer to him. Gulping, she squeaked, "Anakin?"

His eyes snapped open, and a second later they landed on her. Padme felt a little bit uneasy under his smoldering blue- eyed gaze.

"Mistress?" he croaked.

"Anakin!" Padme breathed, relieved and closed the few inches that separated them. She bought her hands down, but didn't touch him, noticing how his eyes followed her movements suspiciously. "I'm not going to hurt you."

He looked at her impassively.

That's when her eyes started burning. Because up until now, in this little episode of theirs, she hadn't truly grasped what he'd been through, but the sweat caking his face, the goosebumps covering his skin, the endless steel walls masking his eyes, gave her all the information she needed to know at that moment. Anakin had been through hell. And something she had done had just made him relive it.

No wonder he couldn't trust her. No wonder he looked at her like she might be hiding a knife.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she repeated, her voice thick with her unshed tears. "I promise, and I'm so sorry that I haven't shown that."

Anakin continued looking at her stoically.

Padme took a breath, looking at his hand, now unfolded, laying limply at his sides. "You're bleeding."

Anakin's eyes wandered down to his hand, although he didn't do anything to help himself. Padme, thinking quickly- or actually, not thinking at all- took off her shirt, leaving her on with only her camisole, and silently offered it to him.

Anakin looked at her make shift bandage strangely, and then he looked back at his hand. "I don't need it," he said softly, and then he lifted his hand and put pressure on the tiny crescent shaped cuts with his other fingers. "I'm sorry I- I'm sorry I did that."

He bowed his head.

Padme crawled to his side and stuck her tiny head under his. "You have no right to be sorry for anything because you didn't do anything."

He looked at her, confused. "I-"

"Yes, yes, I let my temper slipped, you didn't react well to that, you cut your hand, started bleeding, oh no, it got on my floor," she said quickly, her voice completely monotonous. "Big whoop."

Anakin just looked at her like she sprouted a second head, and Padme began to worry she's said something wrong. Again.

But then his face broke out into relieved disbelief, and as she sensed the slightest of a smile tugging away at Anakin's lips, Padme, for the first time since he'd walked through her door, got the feeling that in the end, they would both be okay.


	7. Chapter 7

okay sorry if this not eis hard to read but i['m in a rush and this is me typing like it okay so here's the chapter shortest one yet but oh so eventful and i'm sure the end will ind oof make a lot of you want to kill me but ive thought out the plot and everyhting works out well for everyone and there's so much story to cover so remember that when you think the worst and pkease review and tell me what you thought i hope things aren't too crammed up but the real action is yet to coem and sorry that i dont have what i promised but again im rushing and rosecrystals i read your fic... again and thanks for lal the reviews ! i love you!

and darklord andros, something will not let me review your story. i don't understand why its happening but it is and its very annoying. and of ourse i will help you whatever you need your email just didn't come through just tell me you name and then directly the server no symbol

okay

kk bye everyone hope this is a nice back to shcool/ backt o work treat and review!

* * *

><p>"Alright, that's it," Padme announced, crossing her arms and stomping her foot. "You've been working all day." Although she found it adorable that Anakin took it upon himself to clean out her garage and fix all the hundreds of broken machines that she'd given up on, his...er, focus, made her feel like there was unnecessary distance between them.<p>

As soon as the words left her mouth, Anakin's attention was immediately averted from the screw driver in his hand to her in the doorway, and she was left momentarily stunned.

Oh god, those lips. Jesus. "Uh- I- well, aren't you hungry?"  
>Anakin smiled a little bit and shook his head.<p>

"Are you sure?"  
>"Yes," he said softly. But the tiny teeny grin was still in place.<p>

"Well then..." Padme thought for a moment. "Want some lemonade?" Then she rethought. "Oh wait. We don't have. But I could make some, if you want. Or how about punch? I think I have some of that in the..." How smooth. "Whatever. How about liquid?"

Anakin chuckled and put the screw driver down. "Anythings fine."

"But what do _you_ want?" Padme pressed. "Nothing isn't an answer."

"Do you want me to eat?"

Padme let out barely there gasp of surprise before her nose started to hurt.

His words were a venture, something that wasn't a normal thing for him to say. And once she realized this, Padme very much wanted to run up and hug him and cry and thank him for his courage because even though he didn't know it, it meant the world to her that something she hoped she had been offering made Anakin begin to crack at the hard walls of the shell he enclosed himself in.

However, Padme quickly collected herself before her overdone reaction could make Anakin second guess his actions, and she breathed out a small but elated smile and nodded fervently. "Please, darlin'. I've got _sandwiches._"

Anakin laughed. Her southern drawl was impeccable.

"I think," Padme mused, "I should become a professional sandwich maker. I mean, this queen thing isn't working out well."

Anakin just looked at her, but his eyebrow was cocked and his lips were curved. The only thing missing from the picture was a few words. But we would get there, Padme assured herself.

"What be your opinions on this, mate?"

Anakin shrugged. Oh the shrugging, Padme though with disdainful cheer. How lovely it is to watch. The self deprecating shrugging of Anakin.

"Oh come on, you must have some thought on that."

Nothing.

"Okay, then, how about this. Why won't you answer? Just answer that." She smiled encouragingly and continued, explaining, "Because I love to hear from you. I really do. I think you're smart and funny. So it's not fair to me for you to be quiet all the time. Therefore, you owe me this one thing. Why do you not answer me? Be completely honest."

Anakin's eyes were clouded with fear, and he looked up at her with a vulnerability that she'd never seen on him before. It was almost as if he was begging her to tell him to just keep his mouth shut, to not force him to spew out the truth.

But something inside Padme told her that in order for Anakin to ever get better and to trust her completely and to have more answers and better like the one from the garage, he needed to tell her what it was about her presence that... freaked him out.

So she looked on with ease and a gentle smile, but she was so totally unprepared to hear what left his lips that she felt as if her world had been shocked with a bolt of electricity.

Anakin turned his head down, opened his mouth a released silent sound for a moment, and then he whispered, "Because you could kill me."

Sharply inhaling, her hand covered her mouth and Padme's chair screeched as she shoved herself away from the table. "Oh my god," she muttered horrified. "Oh my god." One couldn't possibly fathom how utterly disgusted she was with herself. This is what Anakin, after everything, he thought she would do? That she would abuse her right of power and murder him? Didn't he know that she would positively die protecting him, or anyone else close to her, for that matter?

Jesus Christ.

What kind of sick, sick person was she?

Lost in her thoughts of loathe, just now she realized that Anakin had defensively done the same.

So she kept the tears out of her voice, tried to steady her shaking core, and put her misery aside for a moment to focus on the task at had. Anakin obviously had a completely warped image of her in his mind that totally threw all the hopes she had for him and the two of them and him in terms of the two of them out the window and even though it killed her inside, she needed to try and fix that horrible point of view of his.

"Anakin," she said thickly. "I pushed my chair away because I got shocked. In fact, I got horrified. I mean, I never thought I was a bad person, but I always knew I wasn't an angel either. I guess though I was wrong about the first part. Something I've done made me seem like a very very very bad person, and I'm sorry that I haven't been able to give you a better idea of myself. But nothing I'll do will ever hurt you, not only because I don't have the right but because I don't want to and I care about you."

And these next words, she said with out thinking and she felt them rip her insides about. "Maybe, if I'm going to make you feel like that, though, and if I bring you down all the time, then it would be better for us not to be...liv-working...together. So I'll see what I can do."

"I'm sorry."  
>And now that she'd said everything possible to completely tear out her soul, one would think that she'd looked at Anakin once or twice.<p>

But she didn't and maybe if she had, then maybe she would have seen the tear leaking down his cheek and maybe she would have realized how his eyes were begging her to stop and let him explain and maybe if she'd though to do all that and if she didn't over react, then she never would have let her panic blind her and she would actually see where she was going and her skull would be all in one piece.


	8. Chapter 8

Ugh. Why do I do this to myself and put unnecessary drama in my chapters. Last chapter was NOT NEEDED. Ughughugh. Anyways guys sorry for the long update but I'm having like my midlife crisis right now even though I'm only a freshie. Fml.

Anyways, for today, Fic recommendation and Song...

A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

And for the Fic...

Chasing the Butterflies by Ryous lil Tenshi

It's in the F451 verse and simply incredible.

So I also realize that last chapter was so terrible. Forced and overly dramatic. I did the best I could with the crap I created.

Hopefully this one's better. I promise there will be shorter updates- the last few months were super hectic and busy. I'm organizing a few walks for the American Cancer Society and Amnesty so if anyone's interested about ways to support Cancer and Human Rights then please pm me :)

Thanks!

Now, enjoy the chappie!

* * *

><p>Has anyone ever been sat on by an elephant? Me neither, but I sure do know what it feels like. The weight of a million bricks had settled itself right on my face and I felt it before I even comprehended the fact that I was awake. My eyes cracked open as I groggily moaned, as if I were in some great pain. I tried moving my hands to wipe them down my face, to try and get my senses functioning, but I was paralyzed from the neck down. I didn't even have the ability to panic. All I could focus on was the fact that my face was slowly being crushed.<p>

My chest didn't even heave and I didn't even cry.

However, as the seconds passed, the weight was slowly lifted and with a start I realized I was finally coming to. Where was I and how had I landed myself here? Once my mind had registered that my eyelids cracked open, I sent a sweeping glance across the room. My hand shot up to the throbbing on my forehead and felt spikes. Looking into the faces of my fellow Senators, I remembered where I was. However, there was one face missing.

* * *

><p>"Welcome back, your majesty," Obi-Wan Kenobi, galactic renowned Jedi, and also my best friend, said with a small, playful grin. Our eyes met, and I knew that from the twinkle in his chocolate eyes that the damage I was facing wasn't too detrimental.<p>

"Oh, please." I rolled my eyes. "Nothing a few stitches didn't fix." Contrary to my words though, a hand flew up, and surely enough, I didn't feel anything but a bandage.

Obi-Wan's hand grazed the bandage, our fingers intertwining a bit as he did so. "You should be fine in no time," he said gently.

I shrugged. "It's not a big deal, really." I glanced around the room, wondering if maybe he was inside.

"Looking for something?" Obi-Wan asked wryly.

I licked my dry lips. "Have you seen my," I swallowed back the bile rising in my throat, "_slave_?"

Obi-Wan's face went weird for a second before he composed himself. "Repeat, Senator?"

"Oh, uh-" I stuttered for a moment. I hated referring to Anakin that way, but I couldn't imagine he would be okay with me giving out his name to people he'd never met before. "My bodyguard, actually."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows raised a bit, so I continued explaining. "Oh," and then I laughed nervously, "Didn't you hear?" Again, some more nervous laughter. "Right, right, um, he's my _bodyguard_, uh... after I almost got shot-"

"You got _shot_?"

"Yes, yes," I waved him down, "Let me finish. After I got shot, the Senate thought it would be in my best interest to... um... _acquire_ a bodyguard, who also happened to be, a, uh, slave. But uh, not my slave. Technically, my slave, but...like...not...really." And then I smiled really big, showing all my teeth.

Obi-Wan cocked his head, almost like he hadn't understood anything. "Let me get this straight. You got shot, which, thanks, by the way, for telling me,-"

"Almost," I corrected him quickly. "Almost got shot."

Obi-Wan went on like I hadn't interrupted. "And then, Senate appointed you a slave who's also your bodyguard-"

"Switch the order, will you. Being a bodyguard is prerequisite to being a slave. Which he's not, by the way."

"You said he was, technically."

"Since when am I known for acting upon technicalities?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "Padme, what are you waiting for now? What do you need? It's not my business if you've decided to get yourself a slave or not."

"But that's the thing," I countered vehemently. "I abhor slavery and you know it! Don't treat me like a common bitch who needs a slave. I didn't even want a bodyguard, but they got me one so what was I going to do, Obi-Wan? Leave the poor guy waiting outside the house? I've made it very clear though that there is no such thing as a slave in my house."

"I wasn't doubting your motives or honor, Senator."

"You sure were acting like it, though." I frowned.

"You know what happened the last time I got involved in the affairs of slavery." He looked at me condescendingly, but a bit of pain flashed across his handsome features.

I grimaced. "Yes."

"Right. At this point, I want nothing to do with slavery."

"I wasn't trying to drag you into anything, I swear." My arm was itching where the IV was inserted. "When do you think I can get out of here and go home?"

Obi-Wan checked the watch on his wrist. "Well, let's wait for the doctors to come first. By looks of the amount of people huddled over your bedside when you first woke up, you would think we were waiting for you to awaken from a coma."

I chuckled. "People do tend to overreact."

My eyes danced across the room, and I saw no one but Obi-Wan. "Where did they all go?"

Obi-Wan gave me a knowing smile. "I know you better than you know the palm of your hand, Senator. I figured you wouldn't appreciate having a million different friends, family, and distant cousins everywhere. Not to mention the media."

I laughed, gripping his hand tightly, hoping that he understood how much I appreciated him through the gesture of our platonic intimacy.

We settled into a comfortable silence before I spoke up again. "So where is he? Do you know?"

"Who?"

"My bodyguard, Obi-Wan, keep up."

"No, actually, I don't, Senator. Would you like me to find out?"

I nodded fervently. "Yes, that _would_ be rather helpful."

I smiled as Obi-Wan stood and left the room. Someone nearing forty, you would never guess he was by the way he filled out his pants.

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan came bursting through the doors of the room I was imprisoned- um, staying comfortably in- hard enough that they smashed into the wall, which set off a chain reaction. I quickly shot up, alarmed, and my head collided with the doctor's nose just as he was checking my stitches for infection. This then caused the doctor to fall back into Obi-Wan, throwing him into the ground and impaling him on a scalpel. Because I can't stand the sight of blood, I then fainted while the infection from my head wounds spread into my skull and covered my brain.<p>

Whoa, wait. Rewind.

That never happened, but it would have been really funny if it did. Okay, maybe it would have been tragic and potentially destroyed the galaxy..

But Obi-Wan did come bursting through the doors, and the doctor over me stopped working and stood up straight in alarm. I followed his example and shot up, simultaneously yanking the IV out of my elbow. I've been involved in politics long enough to distinguish what each of the looks on a Jedi's, especially one as noble as Obi-Wan, face and by the looks of it, something was seriously wrong.

Before I knew it I was on my feet and slipping on my shoes.

The doctor cried, "What's going on here? Senator Amidala!" Then he turned to Obi-Wan and growled, "Who the hell are you?"

Obi-Wan, though, remained calm, "Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, and now if you'll excuse us, _doctor_," and then he turned and took hold on my hand, whispering into my ear in a rush, "Quickly, Senator, there's a problem."

I nodded in understanding. Right away I put on my clothes and took the nasty hospital gown off(not in that order, of course). Obi-Wan took my hand and ushered me out into the hallway. Grabbing my shoulders, he informed me, with a slight off of calm, "There seems to be some notion that your slave was he who injured you."

I gasped, and cried out, "Nonsense! My own two feet were the ones who did this to me!"

"That's not what the Council thinks. In fact, they've taken it very personally that he harmed you."

At this point, I was fuming. Because let's count. First, I was a Queen when I was fourteen. So I had every bit of my life scrutinized since then. And now, after my assassination, for the first two weeks, I had no idea if the person I was speaking to had, at one point, tried to kill me. But the thing is, I was fully equipped to deal with all of that nonsense. Anakin, however, seemed like he was so broken, that if anything else was thrown at him, he could very possibly shatter. And I didn't know the specifics of the Jedi's response, but I knew enough of how things worked that it couldn't have been too friendly.

"That's preposterous," I said with quiet rage. "We need to get out of here immediately."

"My thoughts exactly, Senator. Let's go while we can, eh?"

"Of course." I looped our elbows as we began to make our great escape. On one end of the hall, however, I saw a massive huddling of reporters and journalist and a few people how seemed distantly recognizable and then there was a large crowd of people carrying balloons who I knew very well.

Although on normal circumstances I would invite them all into my suite for tea and non-hospital cookies, right now I didn't have the time or patience and I'm sure that when I issued a statement to the press I could have a plausible story.

Once safe in his vehicle, I asked, "Where is he? Did you find out?" Sometimes, you have so much hope that you just can't hide it.

"In the Jedi temple," Obi-Wan answered simply.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I patted the headboard. "Start it up, man!"

Obi-Wan chuckled and started up the ignition of the craft, and said, "Don't worry, Senator, he'll be fine."

"I hope so."

"He will." And then, "you like him, don't you?"

I blushed and acted a bit louder and more schoolgirl than I would have liked. "Bite your tongue, Obi-Wan Kenobi!" And then I giggled like an obsessed, horny bitch.

Obi-Wan laughed, but it wasn't the good natured kind. It was the one that had narrowed eyes and a smirk and the tone of second graders singing the cootie song, and in Obi-Wan's case, it was also followed by a wink that was to die for.

I, however, remained unamused, and in an attempt to salvage my dignity, I narrowed my eyes at him and vaguely wondered what he would ever know about anything even remotely related to relationships, since as a Jedi he wasn't allowed to have any.

"Okay, okay," Obi-Wan relented. "I was just teasing."

I huffed playfully. "Good thing you were, because your claim has absolutely no standards."

But Obi-Wan just shrugged. "Maybe."

Agitated, I turned to face him. "Stop it! I don't like him, alright? Besides, you've never even met him. How would you know of anything between us?"

Obi-Wan chuckled lightly. "Think about it, Padme. If you didn't like him at all, then why are you getting so defensive?"

I lifted an eyebrow. "There's nothing defensive about a woman protecting her honor. You wouldn't be making these remarks if I was male."

I felt the flier pick up speed as it moved over the city under Obi-Wan's control. Obi-Wan answered, "Padme, don't be feminist. All I'm saying is that if you didn't like him, you would be laughing along with me instead of debating against me."

Leaning back in my seat, I replied, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a politician. Debating's in my blood. And secondly, I'm not debating against you. But you're making me feel uncomfortable."

"Why?"

I groaned. How do I explain this with out being completely awkward? "For starters," I began, "I live with him. Would it be really healthy if I was imagining us in bed every time he went shirtless? May I remind you that under the eyes of the law, he's my slave and I _own _him? Well?"

I glanced at him with my arms crossed over my chest. Again, Obi-Wan shrugged and his eyes flicked from in front of him and to me, his lips pursed in thought. "I don't know, Padme. A little love won't hurt anyone."

I snorted. "That's rich."

Obi-Wan looked legitimately taken aback as he replied, "What?"

Rolling my eyes, I explained, "Well, isn't it against your code to fall in love?"

"And?"

"Well, can't you-"

"Just because it's something I have to adhere to, Padme, it isn't something I necessarily believe in," Obi-Wan said. He looked at me. "It's isn't something I support."

"So if you had it your way, then, you would try to find love?" I asked curiously, leaning closer to him. He smelled like mint. Obi-Wan's always smelled good, for as long as I'd known him. And he was very attractive. And intelligent. And funny.

I'm sure that if he put himself out there it wouldn't be too difficult for him to find a wife. Or husband, if he rolled that way.

"I don't know if I would try," Obi-Wan said, "But I would welcome it if it came my way."

I nodded in understanding, before I carefully replied, "But you wouldn't, right?"

"What?"

"But now..." I looked at him thoughtfully, "You wouldn't go... find love."

After a moment's worth of hesitation, he slowly replied, "No."

"Even though you... want to?"

His eyes met mine, and I thought I saw a trace of a deep, hungry, sad, sad longing, all in one. "If I said no, then I would be lying."

I pressed my back into the seat, wondering when the silence got so heavy. Obi-Wan's words echoed in my mind, and for a brief moment, anger overtook me as I thought about how unfair it was that people could be slaves, and Obi-Wan would die alone.

* * *

><p>I couldn't stand it any longer, so I opened my mouth and let a very innocent, very simple question escape.<p>

"When do you think we'll be there? I hate to think of what could be happening to him."

Obi-Wan checked his timer and then he answered, "Just a few more minutes." He added in an attempt to reassure me, "But I think he'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" I asked myself this more than him.

He looked at me, his eyes telling me I was overreacting. "Padme, honestly. You're the Senator of Naboo and a queen. Do you truly...honestly...deeply believe that someone would even dare lay a hand against your slave with out your permission?"

My spine crawled. "They would if they had reason to believe he harmed me. They would because he's a slave. They would because that's all he is."

Shrugging, Obi-Wan shook his head. "I don't think so. Not with you being who you are. They detained him, but they won't touch him. They're expecting you, too."

I nodded. "I know. Have you contacted them?"

"I did so when you were getting dressed in the hospital room." Obi-Wan looked at me. Judging by the expression on his face, I can only imagine how worried I looked like. Instantly, he broke out into a reassuring grin and chuckled, laying a hand on my knee. "Padme. He's _fine._"

I took in a shaky breath. "I hope so."

He chuckled again. "What in the world has got you so worried?"

I wrapped my arms around myself, my skin crawling as memories flooded into my mind. Anakin's cheek bleeding, his hands shaking, as he explained to me in a small voice that he really hadn't done anything to the man that hit him with a screw driver. "You know what happened back at my house?"

Obi-Wan shook his head as he waited for me to elaborate.

So I did. "I broke my oven. Set it on fire." I gave him a moment to finish chuckling. "Apparently, while I was off doing something, he was with the mechanic fixing my oven, right, and because he _looked_ at him the wrong way, he started beating him with a screw driver."

"Wait, wait, wait, I'm confused. I'm assuming your slave got hit, right?"

I rolled my eyes. _"Yes,_ Obi-Wan, _keep up._"

He laughed. I loved Obi-Wan's laugh. It was sweet and good and pure. "Sorry, sorry, just clarifying. It's a bit hard to keep up when everyone's a 'he'."

I smiled apologetically. "Sorry if I confused you."

"I forgive you."

I giggled as we settled into a comfortable air with out any need for voice, before I remembered that I had been in the middle of explaining something.

"Right... so then, that's why I'm worried. Because it makes me sick thinking about him being treated that way."

"Well," Obi-Wan said with a small grunt. Then I felt the flier jolt and turn downwards, falling fast, before it leveled itself again, a few feet above the ground. "It won't matter anymore, because we've reached our destination."

I took a deep breath.

* * *

><p>The Jedi before me bowed respectively, staying in their positions of submission before I graciously raised a hand and informed them that it was no longer needed that they potentially cause damage to their spines.<p>

"Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo, welcome to the Jedi temple," one of them said. And then, Master Yoda(who I've always been a bit obsessed with) stepped ahead from the lined Jedi and greeted me personally.

It took all I had not to fist pump.

Well, not really. But I was excited, because if I had it my way, I would name him Teddy. As in the bear.

"Senator, expecting you, we have been." He bowed slightly, and rose again on his own accord. "Honored by your presence, we are."

I extended my hand. "Master Yoda, it is I who am honored. Please, call me Padme." I gave him a warm smile.

As we shook, Yoda smiled back and looked at Obi-Wan. "See your interest in her," I blushed and looked at Obi-Wan, "I do. Why you are friends, I understand."

Obi-Wan cleared his throat loudly. "Well, yes, Master, Senator Amidala is highly intriguing." I blushed even more, even though I knew his affectionate words were nearly a hundred percent platonic. "The fact remains, though, that we are not bound in any way."

Internally, I rolled my eyes. Like that could ever be true. Obi-Wan was a best friend if I ever had one and I suspected that the feelings were reciprocated. Instead, though, of voicing my thoughts and the truth, I supported this best friend of mine and nodded in agreement. "I would never attempt to divert Master Kenobi's from his duties as a Jedi."

Yoda smiled, although I saw something linger in his eyes. "Sure of that, I am."

The grin on my face was becoming forced.

After a moment of silence, Obi-Wan yet again started the flow of progress by stating, "We _are_ here to complete some... business."

I almost felt his inner cringe at the last word he spoke.

"Of course," Yoda said quickly, and called forth two young Jedi.

They both bowed, and shook my hand.

"Please, that Senator Amidala has her affairs in order, see to it," Yoda instructed before turning to me and bowing apologetically. "Escort you myself, I would, however, work to complete, I have." Then Yoda's eyes fell on Obi-Wan. "Done with the Senator you are, I assume?"

Obi-Wan looked at me and the apology was there in his eyes, but it quickly left, for he was ever the Master of disguise. "I am, Master. Senator Amidala, please excuse me."

"Of course, Obi-Wan," I replied, holding no judgment. He looked beyond grateful. "Thank you so much," I continued, "for all your help."  
>"It was my pleasure."<p>

"Then, well. Off we are." Yoda's arm placed itself on Obi-Wan's back and guided him to one of the many exits of the Jedi temple. I let my gaze linger after him, and briefly wondered how it would be like to be a Jedi. When your thoughts weren't your own, when you didn't count your days, when you didn't have the right to live your life and to protect it.

And then I turned to the two Jedi, who must have been waiting for me to proceed. "Um, I'm sure you've been informed of what you are to assist me with," I said.

They nodded and told me they were, and then they began leading me to Anakin.

I didn't stop to look at the ornate decorations on the walls or the thousand year old paintings, and I didn't stop to smell the flowers or hear the faint music. All I could think about was the fact that a few steps down and a few seconds away, awaited my Anakin.

I didn't really focus on anything but waiting to see him, and I knew that would be soon. I didn't think about what led to my untimely hospitalization, and how I couldn't restrain myself from overreacting with every little thing that happened between us, and how the last person he would want to see is me even though I could hardly contain my excited anticipation of seeing him.

I didn't think about any of that. I just let my eyes look ahead and imagine that in any of the doors we passed, Anakin would be waiting there.

"Senator, we have arrived," one of the Jedi said, with his hand poised over a heavy looking door, "Are you ready to proceed?"

I tried to hold back my look of incredulity, and answered calmly, "Of course."

And then the door opened, and I brushed almost violently past the both of them. I distantly heard them calling my name, but I didn't really care. Instead I just kept on walking, a few notches before a full blown run. And that was because I could see him.

He was sitting there, on one end of a silver, iron table, with his elbows propped up on the table and his head in his palms.

His name left my lips and suddenly he was looking at me, and our eyes met, brown on blue, and I couldn't contain myself any longer.

"You're alright," I cried, and the floor was moving much faster under my feet than before.

His mouth opened soundlessly, as if he wanted to say something but he couldn't, but that was okay because he was alright and only two steps away from me.

I stopped abruptly on the opposite side of where he sat, his chair pushed back and his posture now rigid and a little bit defensive, with his arms subconsciously poised out in front of him. I wasn't sure how to proceed from there, but the uncertainty lasted for only a moment, and then I had run around the right side of the rectangular table, and I threw my arms around his neck.

As I had expected, he responded as a rock would, but in all honesty, in that moment I really didn't care. Because he was safe and okay and fine and he was still Anakin and nothing bad had happened to him. I quickly withdrew, but not before I got a whiff of how he smelled, and how soft the skin on his neck was and how the planes of his chest were so hard.

He was still sitting while I stood, towering over him, my hands held out in front of me, as if at any moment I would go and hug him again. Even though I didn't, Anakin still eyed me curiously, and once I saw the small bit of fear clouded in his eyes, I instantly felt guilty.

"I'm sorry about that," I breathed. "I just got really excited."

Anakin didn't make a notion to show me that he understood, or even heard me, but I knew better and I knew that he did. I lowered myself down to my knees, so that our eyes were leveled.

"Are you okay?" I continued to speak to him, asking quietly.

He nodded, but barely, and I felt a grin form on my face.

"Okay, then," I whispered. "Want to get out of here? Because I do."

He nodded again, his chin going down a fraction of an inch and then back where it was before.

I smiled at him comfortingly, and stood.

I turned slightly to look at the Jedi, who seemed very confused at the prospect of a slave and his master on such... odd terms. I shrugged at them, as if to say, _who cares_, and informed, "Well, we're ready to go. So any time you boys are, and we can get a move on."

They looked at one another, and then at me, mouths agape. One of them shook their head, as if to clear it, and he said, "Of course, Senator Amidala." Once he made no move to proceed, I inched toward the door.

"Are we going?"

"Yes, but..." he looked around uncomfortably. "Don't you want to sign consent forms? Or don't you have any questions? Perhaps as to why we found him with out a collar?"

At his last statement, I felt my face drain of its color and my knees went a bit week. Loathing, I grit my teeth and turned my eyes to Anakin's neck. Sure enough, there was a brand new, shiny collar, and by the redness and blisters around it, with cold blood I inferred that it had been used on him a few times.

Without moving my teeth, and with a voice like venom, I said, "No. I don't care."

He continued dumbly looking at me, and I could take it no more.

"Well what are you waiting for?" I erupted. "Let's get a move on!"

Instantly snapped to their senses, the Jedi started making use of the bodies they'd been given. I saw that one of Anakin's ankles had been chained to the leg of the table, and after it was released I noticed that the clothes I had provided him with were switched in for the rough prison uniforms that were distributed at the Jedi Temple.

I'm sure my anger was evident, because the Jedi both looked as if the Devil was after them and they had their tails between their legs.

Anakin stood and stretched his chained leg once he was free, and I cast him a final apologetic look that I hoped he caught before turning my attention to both Jedi.

"If it's not a problem, I would appreciate it if you would first direct me to Master Yoda."

They looked at one another hesitantly but didn't dare defy me.

I smiled sweetly at them, grabbed Anakin's hand, gave it what I hoped was a comforting squeeze, and allowed ourselves to follow the two Jedi.

* * *

><p>Outside of Master Yoda's quarters, I informed the Jedi that the could go and tell Yoda of my presence, and I asked Anakin if he would rather stay out in the hall way or come with me inside.<p>

He didn't answer, much to my chagrined expectations, and so I told him to come in with me.

"Senator Amidala," Master Yoda said, bowing. He briefly looked at Anakin and them back at me. "All is well, I trust?"

"Barely," I replied icily.

He looked taken aback, so I continued. "Under whose authority did you treat my slave so..." I searched for the word, "inhumane?"

"Excuse me, Senator?"

If I was an animal, I would attack him. But I wasn't. I was human, and a Senator at that, so I forced myself to remain diplomatic. "I was just wondering, under whose authority did you take the liberty to treat my slave the way you did, considering that he's _mine_ and I wasn't around?"  
>Yoda acted as if I'd stepped on him or something, because he replied, "Our right, it was. Found you unconscious, we did. Escaping, your slave was."<p>

I snorted. "I highly doubt that."  
>"Without a collar, he was."<p>

"Only because I removed it from him!" I said, my voice a few octaves higher than normal. "I thought it was degrading and dehumanizing, so I took the initiative to remove it- maybe if you would consider things from a more liberal perspective you would see things the same way, Master Yoda. To detain him, you had the right to, but to take the liberty to inflict punishment? Absolutely not. In case you have forgotten, this Republic is a democracy, something I helped do. I won't take it very well if you've forgotten that one of our principles is'innocent until proven guilty,' or do the Jedi need reminding?"

Master Yoda indignantly replied, "Rights, I was not aware he had. In case _you've_ forgotten, Senator, rights, slaves do_ not_ possess. Our duty to insure your safety, it was."

I briefly considered his words for a minute, and then I sourly realized they held some truth. In their eyes, Anakin wasn't human like he was in mine.

So I took a different approach. "A Jedi's duty is also to serve. You have served this Republic with dignity and honor, but I see no need for you to reach such ends to insure safety. The fact remains that my slave had done no wrong on the time of his detainment, for it was I who fell and hurt myself on my own accord, and I _bet_ you that he was the one who notified authorities. Was it not?"

I saw that my words left Master Yoda speechless, so I spoke on. "My slave did nothing to deserve the treatment you gave to him, and furthermore, I shall see to it that it never happens again."

"Senator Amidala," Yoda then said, but I held up a hand stopping him.

"No, Master Yoda. There is nothing you can say to convince me of the justice of your actions, and I shall personally see to it that the faults in this democracy are fixed, at once."

I looked at one of the Jedi. "If you don't mind, hand me the key to his collar, please."  
>After it was in my hand and put in my pocket, I turned around to look at Anakin. I refused to meet his eyes as I spoke. "Come," I said brusquely. "Let's go home."<p>

I took his hand, and with out waiting for the Jedi to open the door in front of me, I took it upon myself to walk out and find the way to my flier.

* * *

><p>Once safe inside my flier, I opened my mouth and closed it for a few consecutive times, before I finally steeled myself enough to speak.<p>

"I'm sorry," I said lamely, looking down at my lap. "I know I get frightening when I get angry. But I am, truly."  
>Anakin looked at me.<p>

Seeing this, I clarified, "Sorry. And angry. Both. But I'm angry at the Jedi, not at you. And I'm angry at the Senate as well, but not as much as the Jedi."

I started the flier. "Do you fly?" I asked.

He looked at me hesitantly, but then he nodded.

"Oh you do?" I let out a relieved breath. I hated flying. "Do you mind taking over?"  
>He shook his head and the corners of his mouth turned upwards.<p>

"I haven't had much of a chance to fly, so I'm sorry if its... shaky." His voice was coarse, and it was soft, all at the same time.

I looked at him with my eyes wide, and a giant grin plastered on my face. "You're probably better than me, anyways." I paused for a second, before turning off the ignition. "Okay, let's switch seats."

As we did so, and our bodies brushed up against each other, I felt a rush of heat surge through me, and my heart's beating turned erratic for a second.

I tried to calm myself down as I sat, leaning uncomfortably back into my seat. I carefully sent a glance his way, to see if Anakin was responding as I was.

If he felt the same way, he sure wasn't showing it. Instantly, my heart felt a bit bruised. I quickly pushed that aside though, and turned on the happy facade, and present him with the key.

"Go on, Anakin. Let's see what you're made of."

He took it from me in disbelief(I wondered if he purposely did it in a way so that our fingers didn't touch), and then when our eyes met, I offered him an encouraging smile.

The corner of his mouth quirked upwards as he gripped my key chain, running his finger along the single key.

As he put it in the ignition, I said, "You know where you're going right? We're not going to get lost?"

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said.

And then we were off, and for a moment, I began to consider the prospect that Obi-Wan Kenobi may have been right.


	9. Chapter 9

HAI GUYS!

So, to start off... the reason why the writing quality is so much BETTER in this chpater than the previous ones is because of my new BETA!

Yes!

out of respect for her royal highness please play the following: (youtube) .com/watch?v=YF89u7HBZS4

The fantastical majestical magical fabulous marvelous bobabulous epitome of greatness...

ROSECRYSTALS!

out of respect for her royal highness, please click the following bar: (youtube) .com/watch?v=CLPLuvXIjHk&feature=related

LAWL.

She's amazing, and thanks so much hun for all you did for me(and so quickly, after I explicitly stated to take your time.)

i love you!

AND YOU MY LOVELY READERS, I was going to wait around for more reviews but you all review so well and beautifully and my lovely beta's the best but IDC because you guys that do review are the sweetest, bestest people ever and if you stop reviewing I'll drag you through a mile of broken glass. Lawl, jk. Please keep on reviewing because it makes my day and I'm more prone to sit my ass down and write.

Oh my gosh I sound high ^

So yes. I hope I'm not moving to fast with all that's going on, but I don't want to drag anything out either. we can't do everything, you know! we need some feedback! Speaking of, head on over to my lovely beta's profile: .net/u/2126988/Rosecrystals and enjoy.

Next, time to move on along.

Recommended song: I believe by Ron Pope( and zomg, this one goes along SO well with this chapter!)

Movie: Remember Me. Lawl, made me cry.

FF: here you go! : .net/s/7521714/1/You_Dont_Have_to_be_a_Stranger It gives us all the closure we long for.

so yeah. Enjoy the stuff above, read and tell me what you think of it. OH. And as I said, I'm working with Amnesty INternational and the American CAncer Society. FOr more info(like ways to help human rights and/ or cancer and walks and stuff like that, let me know in a review or pm. Any help is great help, and you guys are defintely dedicated enough to make a difference.)

Without further ado, here's the chapter, and again. Updates will be shorter.

* * *

><p>The next few days passed by fairly quickly and without any marginal changes. I tried to ease Anakin into a sense of comfort, of knowing what comes next and what was expected of him. As far as responsiveness, every now and then, Anakin would grace me with a full, worded statement, but I would usually get either a nod, and in most cases, a shrug.<p>

I hated it so much when he shrugged.

It made me burn with fire at the thought of everything he's ever gone through, and then, my anger doubles when I think of how many more like him there are.

My threat directed to Yoda still stands fresh in my mind, and I intend to act upon that promise, as soon as this whole assassination business was over and dealt with, and I could freely go to work, one of my first projects would be to change for the better the conditions of slaves.

And in time, I hoped that slavery could once and for all be abolished. The mere presence of it contradicted everything that my Republic stood for.

And it time, I also hoped that Anakin could be well enough to help me. I didn't think he would mind if I asked his assistance in abolishing the very thing that confined him.

But for now, my mission was to begin healing this boy. He was young. And if I had any say in his future, it would be a full one. Full of love and feelings and hope and character and honor. If he would share it with me or if his future and my future would be one was still, of course, undecided. I didn't even know what I wanted out of him, and I doubt he was sure where we stood either.

So at the present, all I focused on was helping him realize how human he was. And how worth _everything_ he was.

* * *

><p>Call me a drama queen, but when I saw it, I screamed. Never in my life had I let out such a terrifying, bloodcurdling scream. The very sight of it very well stopped my heart halfway through its beating, and it made my blood run ice cold.<p>

Normally when I cry, my chest begins to feel constricted. A swarm of bees forms and then spills out of the ducts of my eyes. But now, I skipped that process, and the floodgates opened right away.

"No," I bawled, "No, no, no! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Clutching my hair, I fell to my knees. Never before had I been so overwhelmed by such feelings of despair and hopelessness. My stomach was hurting as my chest heaved as I lay there, curled over myself, wailing in agony on the floor.

I barely noticed Anakin rush in, but when I remained unresponsive to his tentative calls, I felt his strong arms on either sides of me, lifting me off the tiles of the bathroom floor, and carrying me to my bedroom, laying me down on my bed.

I gripped his calloused palm, holding on to it for seemed like dear life, as I continued crying.

"No, no, no, no," I gasped painfully. What has my life come to?

"Mistress... are you hurt?" He sounded so worried that for a moment I found myself a bit amused, and then I felt guilty.

Here I was, acting like the end of the worlds had arrived, to the point where Anakin felt that I was actually harmed, over a single gray hair.

But still, I found it difficult to compose myself, and gave up after but a second. A new wave of sobs came over me again, this time louder than before. My face contorted with physical pain as I let go of Anakin, and my nails dug into the palms of my hand.

"I'm only twenty," I cried despairingly. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The volume of my wails increased as I curled into a ball, and distantly felt Anakin's hand rub comforting circles on my back.

"Why is this happening to me?" My arms wrapped around my knees. I felt the room shake under me. Or was I the perpetrator?

And then, "I'M DYING!"

A piece of me was then ripped off my back. Startled, I turned around, and realized that Anakin had only removed his hand. There was a painful coldness to where it had been.

With my nose running, I looked at Anakin, who had now gone rigid, and something about his expression told me he was terrified.

"Anakin?" I sniffed, wiping mucus on my sleeve. "Are you okay?" I coughed a bit, and my breath heaved a few times, as it does after your lungs suffered a beating like the one I gave them.

He opened his mouth, shuddered, and then our eyes met. "You're...dying?" He whispered this, sounding so vulnerable and beautifully childish and innocent that I wanted to hit myself.

I was literally the queen(no pun intended) of everything idiotic and over dramatic and selfish.

I looked down, unable to meet Anakin's eyes, unsure of what to say, of how I could possibly explain my erratic, unjustified behavior.

"No," I said finally. "I'm not dying. I was just overreacting."

And then, unable to deal with myself, with a new batch of tears of shame, I left the room, bumping into the wall as I went.

To say I was surprised that Anakin followed me might have just counted as the understatement of the year. I was beyond shocked, but nonetheless, pleasantly elated.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a small, coarse voice. Our eyes didn't meet, because he looked at his feet , and he wrung his hands out nervously.

I tried to contain myself as I replied, as calmly as I could, "Yes. I'm fine. That's nothing you need to worry about." I tried to come off gentle, but something in the way I'd phrased things made Anakin step back as if I'd just slapped him, and he quietly said, "Oh. I'm sorry, Mistress."  
>I let out a great, heavy sigh at my own failure and how I always managed to hurt him and said, "No. Don't be. It's my own fault." I smiled one that didn't reach my eyes.<p>

Anakin looked up and I felt myself looking into a sea of blue. After a long beat, he exhaled deeply, slowly, and said again, "Oh." And then he added, "Are you okay?"

I smiled again something that I hoped was a bit more convincing and said with false enthusiasm, "Yes, I'm fine." And then I widened my smile to show my teeth in the efforts that maybe he would buy it. "I'll be out in a bit."

Anakin nodded tensely, and I seriously thought he was going to remain there, standing still like a statue, but then he looked down, whispered, "Yes, Mistress," and quietly walked away.

My hand subconsciously went up in the direction Anakin was standing but a few seconds ago, and then, because apparently I hadn't cried enough for today, I felt fresh, hot saltwater run its way down my face.

* * *

><p>"Let's try this again," I muttered to myself. It was more of a grumble, actually. "Come on, Padme, you can do this."<p>

I put my palms on either sides of the mirror and looked into my own eyes. "It's not a big deal. It's just one teeny tiny hair."

I took a deep breath and went on. "Lots of people. Just because you've got one bad hair doesn't mean you're going prematurely gray."  
>Inhale, exhale, repeat. "Relax. You're going to be fine."<br>I nodded at myself, smiled a fake smile, and suddenly, I looked so happy that I almost fooled myself into thinking I was.

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Anakin," I said brightly as I entered the kitchen. I saw him sitting down by the table, his back to the side of the wall. I shrugged happily. "Sorry you had to see that earlier. But I'm all better now."<p>

I grinned again.

He continued looking at me like I'd, oh I don't know, sprouted a second head, maybe.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Is something wrong?"  
>Quickly, Anakin's face went expressionless and he shook his head.<p>

I sighed heavily, cursing myself yet again. All I did was make him feel uncomfortable. Maybe it had to do with my presence. But somehow, whenever there was progress, I always seemed to bring us back a few steps.

Then I asked, "Want some juice?" to which he shrugged.

Forcing myself to look past the shrug, I simply said, "I'll get you some."

As I poured two cups of juice, one for me and one for Anakin, I wondered for a moment what he was thinking right now, and what I would give to just get a glimpse into his thoughts and be able to tell what he needed from me to be whole again.

What I wouldn't give to make him whole again.

Turning around, I handed him the juice and toasted. "Cheers. Welcome back home."

Anakin didn't really participate, as I expected, but he did put the cup to his lips when I led by example.

I pulled out a chair across from him and sat down, propping myself up against the table on my elbows. "So."

He looked at me suspiciously.

I let out a chuckle. "Relax." He remained still, with the same lurk of _stay away from me_ written in his eyes.

"I was just going to ask what you wanted to do today," I said lightly, ignoring the way he stared.

Anakin visibly relaxed at his, letting out a deep breath. He shrugged, as usual.

So, my devious mind devised a plan, right there on the spot. The idea hit me with the force of a pod.

I leaned back in my seat, crossed my arms over my chest, and let a mischeivous, satisfied grin slowly spread over the lower half of my face.

"That's how you want to be?" I narrowed my eyes. "Fine. I can sit here and shrug all day to. Im fact, that's what we'll do."

It felt perfectly unthreatening to me, but the reaction on his face told me differently. His posture grew stiff and his eyes widened in alarm. But I was irritated and continued.

I shrugged. "Just sit here and _shrug." _I shrugged again. And again, and again, and again, till it looked like I was almost having a small seizure.

However, I kept on the motions over and over, until finally, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the thin line of Anakin's full lips crack and little bit, and then it cracked some more, and so I finally stopped, laying my hands flat on the table. The remorse finally kicked in. A few silent moments passed and then I looked at him.

I grinned hugely. "So, let me ask again. _What_ do you want to do today, besides shrugging?"  
>Anakin looked at me for a second, unsure of himself. He paused, and then said quietly, "Whatever you want to do, Mistress."<p>

That last "Mistress" really hit a nerve. I distinctly remember telling Anakin not to call me "Mistress" because it made me feel old. And after the horrendous discovery I made about my level of physically maturing this morning, that hideous word alone was enough to drive me nuts.

I deeply regret what happened next, but it happened.

The words left my mouth before I could even think, but inside, I had reached my teenage girl snapping point.

"STOP FUCKING CALLING ME THAT!" I hadn't realized halfway through my explosion, I stood and slammed my hands down the table, but Anakin's chair flew backwards till it hit the wall, and his hands went up over his head, in an obvious attempt to protect himself from whatever would be coming next.

I collapsed to the ground, sobbing gutteral noises that came straight out from my core. I was horrible and mean and rude and I couldn't control myself and I had nothing in me but a blatant disrespect for people's feelings and I would be an old lady by the time I was thirty.

"I'm sorry," I cried, repeating the mantra over and over and over again, until it was all but the same word.

I felt something warm slowly lay itself upon my shoulder, and looking up, I found myself looking into none other but the beautiful eyes of the boy I now shared my house with, of the boy who was supposed to protect me.

And then I realized that that's what exactly he was trying to do. Instead of just sitting there, looking at me ball like an animal after I'd screamed at him, and been the cause for so much of his pain, he still put his best foot forward out and took the chance and risked himself and his safety by attempting to somehow reach me.

The thought almost made my heart crack into two.

"What's wrong?" He whispered, looking at me tenderly. Beneath the layers of fear for the potential trap he'd set himself up in, I saw pools and pools of empathy, and now, gripping onto the fibers of his shirt, I found myself crying into his chest, his hard, hard perfect chest and a set of hesitant hands placed themselves on the planes of my shoulder blades, and we sat there for I don't know how long.

At some point, though, I calmed down enough to regulate my breathing patterns, and get some air into my abused lungs.

"I'm sorry," I said, my breath hitching halfway through the last word.

Anakin shook his head down at me, and after a moment of thought, I came to the conclusion that he was telling me that it was alright, or rather, there was nothing to be sorry about.

So I stubbornly shook my head back at him, although I felt one of the corners of my mouth twitch. "No. I _am _sorry. I should have been honest with you from the beginning, instead of being cryptic and ruining our morning. I know you thought I was fine this morning but-"

"I didn't," he said quietly, and I could tell by the look on his face that he'd interrupted me without meaning to. "I'm sorry," he amended quickly. "Please forgive me."

"Anakin, stop. I don't care that you said that when you did." I looked at him earnestly. "Please go on."

Anakin looked away, taking a deep breath."It's nothing."  
>After a moment of giving him the chance to change his mind, I said slowly, "Alright. Well, anyways, I wasn't fine and I'm still not fine."<br>I looked at Anakin, making sure he wanted me to continue, and when his blue eyes looked on encouragingly, I said, "I found a gray hair. In my head."  
>Anakin's expression was blank.<p>

"A _gray_ hair." I stressed, "_Grey, _Anakin. My hair's _brown._"

He was still confused. I huffed dramatically. "Do you know what that means?"

After a beat, the corners of his mouth finally mended upwards as he looked down at me with realization. "That-"

I held up a hand and stuck my nose towards the sky. "Save it. If you're going to tell me I'm getting old, then just _save it_, because I most certainly _am not_." But then my eyes filled with water again, and my voice broke completely. "Oh, who am I kidding? How old do I look? Fifty?"

He shook his head, something akin to morbid, affectionate fascination in his eyes. "Nineteen," Anakin whispered. And then those very same eyes locked on mine and I felt myself melting for a moment.

I shook my head, bringing myself back to the ground and out of the clouds. "What did you say?"

"I said you look nineteen." His voice was low, and soft, almost as if he didn't want to overstep on any barriers by being too loud.

But I didn't focus on his motivations for saying what he did and how. All I could feel was inner shallow euphoria, mixed with disbelief. "Really?" I asked hopefully.

Anakin nodded.

"You really think I don't look any older than I am?"  
>"Not at all," he replied.<p>

And then, for some reason, my blood went all hot and my face got red, and I felt myself wanting to turn away. "Well then," I began shyly, "how _do_ I look?"

A pregnant pause. Two deep breaths going into separate sets of lungs. Just as I was about to muster what little dignity I had left and to tell him to forget it, the minute I opened my mortified mouth, I heard something so quiet, that had a leave rustled, the sound would have been lost to me.

At first I had to do a double take, because I couldn't dare believe I'd heard right, but the syllables were there.

Anakin said I was beautiful. But still, to feed my insecurity, I asked him to repeat it.

"What did you say?" My voice trembled.

"I said..." Anakin took a deep breath, trying to steady his shaking voice. "I said that- well, you asked me how you looked- I said... I said...I said _beautiful_." His eyes went down. "You're beautiful."

Taking this in, I left my tummy flutter, and my cheeks lit on fire. His confession nearly bought tears to my eyes, _again_, and I felt myself placing both my hands on either side of his down turned face, and I looked into his eyes and into his soul, and when he hesitantly looked up at me, I smiled gently at his vulnerability, and I told him with conviction in my voice, in a tone that was nothing but final, "So are you."

* * *

><p>"Do you see rain much on Tatooine?" I asked casually, propping myself up against the frame of the window looking at the lake lined up at the back of my so called safe house. It was beautiful being up here, at first, but then it got extremely redundant. There was nothing to possibly do, and gazing at nature wore out its welcome rather quickly.<p>

However, now, the way things had turned out with Anakin... I figured that there was nowhere better to be, really.

Anakin's gaze remained poised on the speedy bullets of water as he shook his head. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he wrapped his arms a little bit around himself. My eyes traveled upwards to his face, that beautiful, beautiful face of his, and there was something about his expression that vaguely reminded me of the times I looked into a photo album.

"Oh?" I said, trying to maintain conversation with the boy who told me I was beautiful not only hours ago. "Did you ever go outside and play in the rain or anything like that?"

The question was innocent enough, or at least, I thought it was.

Clearly, though, Anakin thought very differently, because his head suddenly whipped around, and when I caught a glimpse of what his previous nostalgia turned into, I felt the need to gasp sharply. But I didn't. Instead I just continued looking at him, dumbfound, wondered what in the world it was about what I'd asked that had such a profound effect on him. His lips were parted slightly, over a quivering chin, and his nostrils were flared and his emotions swam in the tears pooling in his eyes.

I covered the distance between us in a single step, and I was ready to put my hand on his shoulder when I thought against physical contact. As I'd recently discovered, the only time it was okay to touch him was after Anakin touched me first. I left my arm hanging there, in the air, and I asked him softly, "Anakin?" Our eyes met and the line along his bottom lashes was barely walling up the pooling water in his blue orbs. "What's wrong?'

I tried to convey to him through my eyes that he could tell me what was troubling him, what was hurting him so much. I tried to get all that across to him, but it didn't seem to work.

Anakin just stood there, hanging his head, and brokenly whispered, "I never got sick." His eyes flashed to mine, and he looked like he was a nine year old boy, alone and lost and cold and hurt, a needle, unable to find his way out of a haystack. His unshed tears began to pool over and run down the moonlight on his cheeks. "I never got sick," he repeated, his eyes asking something of me, questioning me. I was about to ask what he needed of me, but then he asked, "Why didn't I ever get sick?" His breath hitched twice in his throat. "Whenever it rained, I never got sick. Why didn't I ever get sick?" He choked over air, and then the choke forced itself out.

I had no idea how I was supposed to respond, desperately wishing for there to be something for me to be able to think of doing, but there was absolutely nothing. So I just did the only thing I knew how to. I took a giant leap of faith, and placed my tiny palm in his, and ignored the way he violently flinched backwards. I took a step closer to him. "I don't know," I answered gently, my own voice coarse.

He let out another breath of condensed, violent air. "Why didn't I ever get sick? Why?"

"Shh, shh," I soothed, the tips of our feet touching, our noses nearly getting there. "I don't know, Anakin. I don't know why."

"She always got sick," he cried. "And it was always my fault."

At this point, a million questions just flooded into my mind. She? Who was she? His mother? His sister? I gulped at the next one. His lover?

Suddenly, a visual of Anakin with anyone but me seemed preposterous.

However, before they took me over, I forced those thoughts out of my head. Right now, I had more problems than dealing with Anakin's love life. I had to deal with his sanity.

"Shhhh," I continued soothing. My breath fell on the features of his face. "It wasn't your fault, nothing's your fault, I promise, I promise, I promise." Gradually, as I kept on repeating my promise, and Anakin rested his head on the glass, continuing to cry silent, but heavy sobs, I moved my arm from just holding his hand to wrapping it fully around his chiseled back, resting my head on his left shoulder.

"Tell me," I whispered. "What was her name? Did you love her?"  
>Through his sob, I heard a yes.<p>

I nodded against him. "And she loved you as well?"

This time, his cry broke out completely free, and the sound of it nearly broke my eardrums, not to mention my heart. I heard him repeat his previous answer.

"Thank you for trusting me," I said into his arm. "It takes courage."

Against the now foggy glass, Anakin's head began to shake.

I looked up at him incredulously, once our eyes met. "You don't think you have courage?"

He stopped shaking his head, but at this point, I knew what it meant.

I snorted. "Please." He looked at me questioningly. "I think you have more courage than all the Jedi in the galaxy combined."

His shoulders hitched again, but I knew he heard me.

"Do you miss her?" I breathed finally. As I waited for him to answer, my left hand snaked up over his shirt to rest on the erratic thumping of his heart.

_Thump, thump, thump._

And then, Anakin went very still, and for a moment my heart stopped in a wave of utter panic. But then I felt something buckle under me and I realized it was his knees, and his fists hit the ground and his back slumped and his head was only a few inches away from the edge of his knees.

I stood there standing, towering over him, for what seemed like several eternal seconds. All I heard was nothing, and then a soft, jagged, "yes," that, like the rumble of a low summer hurricane, was more heartbreaking than the wail of a man carrying the dead body of his lover.

If something in him broke at that moment, it was when I fell to my knees as well, and wrapped myself around him like a blanket made of webs and shared his pain and our sobs were in sync, one with the other, that I knew a small part of myself broke as well.

* * *

><p>I didn't push him about the mysterious woman in his life after that. Although the thought of her made me scowl, because I had a pretty good clue of who she was. That dumb who-<p>

Force, I'm such a terrible being. Here I was, cursing at the one thing that made Anakin happy without even knowing anything about her. But again, to me, the thought of Anakin with anyone else by his side but myself with simply unfathomable.

However,(scowl), it seems that fate had different plans, and that apparently, Anakin was destined to fall in love with some crazy chick who always got sick in the rain.

Fine. I could deal with that. Whoever said I would have to be partners with Anakin anyway? Maybe we were destined to have the same friendship that I had with Obi-Wan.

Although, being honest with myself, that probably wouldn't be a very healthy friendship. Mostly on my side, of course, but still. There was nothing healthy about being "just friends" with a boy who you envisioned yourself with while wearing nothing but a smile on your face. Sure, albeit my thoughts never really lingered on those naughty things, I was a nineteen year old girl who'd never kissed a boy in her life. _Excuse _me for wanting some action.

What was even wrong with me?

He was quite obviously suffering, both internally and out, and he had damage, both internally and out. He didn't need me complicating his life with my "feelings," especially when he was already thinking "that way" about someone else, who could very well be living and it was simply the case that they were separated because both of them were slaves.

But that must have been a very long time ago, because given his present state, Anakin didn't seem capable of handling a progressive relationship.

However, something inside me told me that he was getting better, and given his improvement with me, I sensed that he was. If you think about it, the first day of us being together, he couldn't even bear to make eye contact. And just recently, he admitted that he thought I wad beautiful after I confessed to him about my hideous gray hairs.

Which leads us to my biggest fear yet: If Anakin got well enough to ask things of me, which I was positive he would, what exactly _would_ he ask of me? Would he ask me for _her?_

And would I find her for him? Could, I, as a human being, have a heart strong enough to bare all that?

I would have to, it seemed.

* * *

><p>"Good morning sunshine," I said playfully, entering the kitchen with a bounce in my step. After the rather... daunting dramatic events from a few days ago, I was welcoming our new sense of normalcy. Neither of us had broken down crying yet, so that was quite good.<p>

It had become routine for me to greet Anakin first. He was always awake earlier than I was, and he was always in the kitchen, sitting on the fair end of the table, facing the doorway, with his hands folded in front of him and his head turned down.

After the words left my mouth though, his head snapped up and looked at me right away. I saw the dark circles of a restless sleep still laying under his bright eyes, but I didn't voice any concern. It wasn't uncommon for people to have nightmares. And when you were as broken as Anakin, I could only imagine how regular they must have been.

He didn't say anything back, but his face softened. You wouldn't really have been able to tell. I was just paying extra attention to the thin line of his thick lips, and noticed how it became slightly less rigid.

"Any special breakfast request?" I asked casually, opening the fridge with two cups in hand. That was also routine. I would get the both of us juice, ask what he wanted for breakfast, and then-

Anakin, as usual, shook his head, and whispered, "No ma'am."

I let a resigned sigh take over for a second, before I collected myself and plastered my grin back on and gave him his cup. I let the juice sit on the table, closer to Anakin then me so he would feel more comfortable taking more if he wanted.

Not that he would.

I just wanted him to know about his options.

I sat myself across from him and said, "Do you want to make something? Or should I? I'm only asking since you're a better cook."

Anakin would make breakfast anyway. But everything was about options, and asking gave him the chance to decline if he wanted to do so.

Anakin got up with out hesitation and set himself to cook, as I let out a slow breath with my eyes following his every step.

I couldn't say I found his submissiveness appealing, but I was a determined individual.

"You know what, Anakin?" As I abruptly got up and walked to him, he froze mid action, the egg he was about to break left hanging over a bowl, and his eyes suddenly snapped up to meet me, like a deer caught in headlights.

I swallowed back my throat, thinking of how I had scared him, of how thoughtless I was, and I acted like his response was normal, and I said, "Move." My hip bumped his and he stumbled into the wall. "I'm making breakfast today, just to prove to you that I can. I've had enough of your manual labor. It's because I'm a woman, isn't it?"

He looked absolutely terrified.

I rolled my eyes. "It's because I'm a woman, I knew it. Well, you know what, I'm an absolute, _tiger _in the kitchen. So if you'll just let me do my job," I cracked the egg violently, and some of it fell on the counter, "and go sit down," I cracked the other egg and it fell into the bowl, "then I can make a delectable breakfast."

His eyes were wide open and he was plastered to the wall.

I shooed him. "Go on now."

My heart told me that there was a special circle in hell, just for me.

* * *

><p>Okay, so in case you ever make eggs... if they start smoking, then you're doing something wrong. Good thing I had Anakin around, because let me tell you, the damage I could have potentially caused was definitely more than I was paying insurance for.<p>

It bothers me how he always saves the day and then says it's his fault to begin with. When I see a starving kid on the street, do I think it's my fault because I eat dinner? No, obviously. But Anakin, right, my omelet catches fire and he's telling me he's sorry and how he promises he won't ask to eat until he can repay me.

I told him that if we ever ran into his Master then he'd better put some restraints on me, because then next person we would be seeing would be Obi-Wan, coming to arrest me for battery and assault.

And then before I could explain myself any further, I asked Anakin to leave and do something while I cleaned up, because I was about to have an episode and he didn't have to witness it.

So that's why I was screaming profanities as I wiped down the counter tops of my kitchen.

When I walked out of the kitchen, I was hardly surprised to find Anakin standing against the wall, hands folded and head down. "There isn't a no sitting policy," I said casually as I headed up to change. "Just so you know."

When I came back down, Anakin hadn't moved, but I hadn't really expected otherwise.

"I need you to do me a favor," I said earnestly, sitting opposite him on the couch. Once our eyes met, I continued.

"Tell me you understand what I'm expecting from you. That I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. That you're not a housekeeper or cook or cleaning service or property. Tell me that you understand that."

A million different things flickered behind his clear sky blue eyes, none of which being emotions I could identify.

He broke contact and looked down. "I understand," he mumbled.

"Good," I said hoarsely, leaning further, closer to him. "Then why don't you sit down? Why do you always apologize for things that aren't your fault? Why do you act like you're walking on broken glass?"

Anakin didn't respond, but the silence was growing heavy, so I pressed on gently, "Well?"

He still remained quiet, and I couldn't bear it any longer, and I got up, went over to him, took hold of his hand, gripped it tightly, and said again, "Well?"

He looked at me, and in his eyes, he held so much innocent questioning. So much doubt, and so much vulnerability. As if, I, in that moment, actually held the power to break him in half in the palm of my hand.

"I only want you to be happy," I murmured, completely unaware of anything that I had just said. I bought his hand up to my lips and spoke against the coarse skin, "Why can't you just be happy?" My voice was a quiet whisper, almost a squeak, ready to crack.

His throat bobbed and he gulped, tearing his beautifully blue beautiful eyes away from mine, and just made a sound like he'd choked.

But I knew better, and I closed the distance between us and released my hand and put my palms on his face and looked at him and said, almost breathing out the words, "Anakin, be happy. Promise me that you'll try. Promise me that you know I'll never hurt you. I need you to promise me."

And then my eyes grew hot and my voice cracked and my chest heaved once and I repeated, sobbing out the word, "Please."

There was another choking sound, but then he said, "I promise, I promise. I promise." I looked up at him with big, hopeful eyes and a big, hopeful heart, and I asked, "Really?"

Anakin's blue eyes now looked a bit red and he repeated quietly, "I promise," and then he softly added, "Please don't cry. At least not because of me." A second passed, and my hand stroked his cheek, and then he said, almost as if he couldn't believe that I didn't already know this, "I'm not worth it."

And suddenly I felt much stronger than before and my body was made of steel and I could bare the world on my shoulders, and my hands stopped and gripped his face and I bought myself up to my toes so that our eyes were almost on top of each other, and when I felt him tremble, I said passionately, "No." Pause, and then, "You're worth _everything._"


	10. Chapter 10

HEY GUYS! Ok I'm back. Honestly, I don't know how long updates will take.

The next one won't be this long though, rest assured omfg

Anyways, to clear some stuff up:

In a review, I was asked to clear up something I didn't do before and I'm sorry about that lol:

OK so Padme's 17, and Anakin's 19. When I have time I'll go back and fix it in the earlier chapters.

Okay, I'm just gonna give ya'll a song for now...

LISTEN TO NEVER LET ME GO by Florence and The Machine WHILE READING THE CHAPTER. I'm going to put "NLMG" to where you should press play.

Thanks for reading ya'll!

**BIG THANKS TO ROSECRYSTALS FOR KEEPING ME ON MY TOES. Without her, I wouldn't have found it in me to sit and write and update. You all owe her a big hug and a thank you. go review her awesome stories!**

* * *

><p>Alrighty. So the thing is that you know, I really, I have nothing to do. I mean, Anakin's great and all but I can't say we've been partying it up. There's a whole in my heart where work goes, and I miss Obi-Wan. I can't leave the house unless it's with Anakin, and honestly, I'm not sure about how ready he is to go out yet. I'm not sure if <em>I'm<em> ready, either. I mean, attempted murder in response to someone

being rude to Anakin wouldn't really look to great on my record.

And the weather's gotten really nice these past few weeks, too. The birds come by the window and chirp, and it feels like they're taunting me, telling me that they have the sky to fly in and I only get to walk under my roof.

However, there is something that's really pleasing me. Anakin and I have been steadily getting closer. His guarded demeanor seems to be have relaxed a little bit, and he isn't so hesitant to laugh or smile anymore. Three weeks have passed since that brutal thunderstorm, and Anakin hasn't told me anything about that mystery woman. If you weren't there, you wouldn't even know she was real. But all that aside, I feel like we've been, I don't know, bonding, I guess. I mean, we've been spending all day together- he'd spend an hour or two in the garage and I would tend to my flowers, but for the most part, we're either sitting on the couch and talking, or eating and talking. Oh, and of course you know that by talking I mean that I ask him questions and try to weasel out answers.

Well, no that isn't really fair. I mean, he's gotten better at making conversation- he actually makes an effort to engage in it with me. But something usually happens, and he completely retreats and that's the end of that, and it's those moments where dread fills me as I'm reminded that Anakin is still very much a slave.

It's moments like those where I just want to hug him- I just want to gather him up like my mom did to me, and hold him until he realizes how wrong it is to be owned by another person. That's what gets me. How he acts like being a slave is normal for him, as if he ever did anything to deserve it.

* * *

><p>Alright so don't judge me but I went on the web and looked for some recipes. I mean, I can't even cook to begin with but it's not like I don't have the time to get better at it. There was this one that sounded really appealing- "lasagna," it was called. It sounded moderate in difficulty, but a picture of it made correctly was enough to make my mouth water. And given Anakin's appetite, I could only imagie the effect it would have on him. And plus, it was from a blue planet called Earth, which was known for its great recipes. In fact, most archeologists from Naboo and Corosaunt all unanimously agree that had its inhabitants not destroyed its Ozone Layer, the planet would now be renound through out the galaxy for over a hundred thousand years of good food.. It's a tragic story, really, I've read so many works on the topic. A classic story of how human greed can truly be enough to destroy a home of over a billion species of life forms.<p>

But yeah, I made the lasagna and burned the tip of my left index finger while putting out of the oven, as a testament to being classic Padme.

I decided to let the pan sit a little bit out so the cheese could firm up a little bit that way it wouldn't slide off the slice on the plate. I put it in the center of the table, and put two plates opposite each other, in our usual seating arrangement. After setting out the knives, forks, napkins, and cups, I hollered for Anakin to come so we can eat as I filled up a pitcher with water.

He appeared at the doorway seconds later, just as I finished setting the pitcher down next to the pan. Our eyes met, and I grinned hugely at him, putting my hands on my hips.

"So I tried a new recipe from Earth," I explained. "I hear it's really good, so let's hope I made it right." I laughed a little.

Anakin's lips quirked but his eyes sparkled, and I felt warm inside.

"Sit sit sit," I said, pulling my own chair out. In a few steps, Anakin was also at the table, and I noticed how he carefully pulled out his chair so it wouldn't make a sound.

He put his hands in his lap and looked at me expectantly. I sat there for a second before I realized what he was waiting for, and suddenly I felt very stupid. "Oh, you want me to- okay," I said dumbly. "Alright, don't wait for me next time though."

Anakin looked down and nodded. I sighed and used the spatula to cut a square. The cheese was pretty stiff, so it didn't spill all over the place, but the rest of it was positively bursting in sauces, and the aroma of meat, tomato and pasta filled the room. I was about to scoop it up and put it in my plate, but then I remembered how it was good to treat your guests first before you.

"Anakin, please bring your plate a little closer," I said.

He looked up, a little startled, but obeyed immediately. Gently, careful not to have the sauces splatter, I slipped the spatula out from under the giant slice of lasagna.

He made move to bring it back, but I said, "hold on," and gave him another piece just as big. I winked at him. "Just because I know you'll want a second."

He breathed out a small smile, and said, "Thank you."

"No problem," I said and served myself.

Once we were both sitting, I said, "Well what are you waiting for? Dig in!"

He looked at me again and thanked me, again.

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I said. "Don't mention it." Then I grinned. "After all, you _are_

my guest."

Anakin's fork paused midway to his mouth. His eyes snapped to mine, because he definitely wasn't expecting that one.

_Success._

* * *

><p>"Anakin, are you sure you're good- I mean if you need more space-" I don't know why I was getting worried. Anakin seemed perfectly happy with his room, but I also knew that he was trained never to complain about anything whatsoever.<p>

Anakin turned around to face me, his hand stopping to leave the knob of his door halfway turned. His blue eyes looked down. "I'm okay," he said quietly. Then he let out the breath of a humorless chuckle. "I never really had a room before. Or a bed. Or any of what you've given me."

I felt a little bit uncomfortable with what he said. I didn't respond very well to self-deprecation.

"Anakin, it's the least anyone owes you," I said once our eyes met.

He started fidgeting a little bit and bowed his head further and his hands dropped to his sides. "Thank you for giving me everything you've-"

"Please don't thank me again," I said quickly. "It makes me loose faith in people every time you do."

"Why?" he asked softly, as if he was treading on dangerous grounds by daring to ask me a question.

Peering up a him, I took a step closer. And then another step, so that our bodies were almost touching. My hands found his and gently intertwined our fingers when he flinched. "It's 'cause one person shouldn't own another one," I whispered. "I don't approve, personally."

His fingers squeezed mine, and for the briefest second my eyes fell to his lips and I really wanted to kiss him. Our eyes met again and a picture of my lips on his flashed through my mind, and his gaze seemed to smolder with the same thing I was feeling.

Instantly, I let go of our hands and Anakin fell back to the wall, gulping and looking at me. "I'm sorry, ma'am I won't-"

"No, Anakin, don't be _sorry_! Just stop being sorry, please-" my voice was hoarse and my eyes stung, and I turned around so he wouldn't see me cry. "I shouldn't have gotten so close to you. I mean, you already have someone." My voice cracked at the last word.

After a stretched period of silence, I told the wall, "I'll help you find her."

"She's dead," he said hoarsely. "My sister, she's dead."

I spun around and gasped. "What?"

Anakin looked down at the ground, and his arms wrapped around his chest as if he was holding himself together. "I don't know anymore. Master, I'm so sorry that I don't know, I don't know what to do and how to act and what to say and I'm_ so sorry._" His head hung in defeat. "I'll take whatever you give me."

"I'm not going to hurt you, if that's what you're implying," I said thickly. "That's not my style."

Anakin shuddered. "I'm sorry," he said again.

"It's fine," I decided to say. "Apology accepted and I forgive you."

His grip on himself just tightened and he nodded, seeming ready to collapse at any given second.

I slowly went to him and put an arm around his shoulders, ignoring his flinch. "You wanna go lie down?" I whispered softly.

Anakin looked at me for the longest second and finally shook his head.

"Alright," I said, "Well, let's sit down," I offered.

Anakin seemed to agree with me, because I felt his weight disappear from under me until we were both sitting on the floor against the wall.

I was deliberating whether or not I should ask him about his sister, but then I decided that he

should be the one to initiate _that_ conversation. "Anakin, what just happened?" I finally asked.

I saw him bite his lip from where I sat on his side, and once again I marveled at his profile, and those full lips. I saw a scar leading from his left hairline to his chin, and I think it was the thought of him being hurt that gave me the courage to say what I said next.

I closed my eyes, readying myself to speak the words that could forever change our perception of each other. "Anakin, want to know what just happened? I'll tell you what just happened. I wanted to kiss you. Hell, I wanted to do that for weeks now. But you know what? You're so broken, Anakin, and I feel like one wrong move on my part is going to shatter you."

**NLMG **His lips parted slightly, and I kept going, stopping to catch my breath. "I don't want to be the one to do that, Anakin. It was stupid of me, and selfish, to think that you'd feel the same way, to want to respond. I won't ever try to act on the thoughts I have, of the two of us kissing, until you tell me you want me to."

I stood up, ready to walk away, but I turned and I told him and his blank, unreadable expression, "Let it be known though, that I don't think of you as a slave. In this house, you're a free man, and as soon as it's possible, you're going free."

I took a step, but then I felt his large, warm palm grip my right wrist, and suddenly my name was spoken in his voice. "Padme," he said. "Please-please-just don't go."

My mouth fell open, and my free hand flew to my lips. "You said my name," I whispered. He was still on the ground, and yet he was almost as tall as I was.

"Come back," he breathed out and Anakin's sparkling, earnest eyes, those beautiful sky blue eyes with diamonds, looked as if they never wanted anything more.

All of a sudden, I didn't know what was happening, but his other hand found mine, and all of my weight rested on his strong arms. He set me next to him, but my body was resting on his.

Our eyes never broke from each other, and brown on blue just caught fire. I felt my stomach heat and I began to tingle. I felt his large, calloused palm place itself on the bare skin of my waist, and my thumb traced the scar by his ear.

"What are we doing?" I asked him, my voice unsteady.

"Sh," he said, and then his other hand was on the side of my face, he bought my waiting lips to his, and my blood began to race as our mouths danced.

I moaned softly as my lips began to push against his and my hands gripped his tangled golden locks, never able to get enough of him. Weeks pent up of wanting him seemed to pour out of me, because Anakin turned so that he wasn't leaning against the wall, but laying down, and I clambered on top of him, sitting on his sculpted stomach as I leaned over, never once breaking the kiss, only for a second to breathe. His fingers dug into my waist, but then his hands went under by my ribs, and he held me as we shifted slightly again so that I could sit on him with a bit more ease.

I nipped at his lip, our noses rubbing against each other, and he let out a soft content moan, and I couldn't believe it was me that was making him this way. But to be honest, he was making me feel something I'd never felt before, either. I felt wanted and I felt beautiful, as Anakin continued to kiss me and his hands were on my body, I felt like I was special. My hand went against his chest, pushing me slightly off of him, so I could catch up on my breathes, and our eyes met, but they really met, for the first time since our lips had found solace in each other, and I couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Did that really just happen or am I dreaming?" I asked breathlessly, sitting upright on his stomach, our fingers intertwined again.

Anakin looked radiant, but he looked uncertain, and I almost felt incredulous because he didn't really look uncertain when his hands were roaming around my bare waist.

"Anakin, tell me you don't regret kissing me," I said. If he did I wouldn't be able to bear it.

But then his eyes twinkled mischievously and I suddenly got a very good feeling. "Can I show you instead?"

I felt heat rush up to my cheeks and as I nodded, I felt a smile spread across my face.

Anakin grinned back and his eyes glittered, and as he pulled me down, I took him in.


End file.
